


Where Is My Enemy

by Angry_Face



Series: Darkest Shade of Red [3]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - War, Blood and Gore, Death, Depression, Drug Abuse, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, F/M, Minor Original Character(s), Post-Season/Series 03, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sad, Violence, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:02:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 37,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23884924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angry_Face/pseuds/Angry_Face
Summary: He remembered when he first saw her. A spitting image of her mother with such large, innocent eyes and a weapon twice her size, devouring cookies and behaving like the child she was. The innocence of youth was so far gone from her now, only five years, but she had changed so much since he last saw her. Gone was that girl, a much more complex soul stands in her place.The Second Great War is over, but the world is still in tatters. The recovery of the people of Remnant is a long and rocky road. Ruby struggles with who she wants to be and who she has become. Weiss' scars continue to pile up and old ones start to open and fester again. Blake and Yang continue to mend their broken friendship while struggling with each crack that forms. Even when the fighting is over, the title of Enemy moves to something else.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Neopolitan/Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Neopolitan/Yang Xiao Long, Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Series: Darkest Shade of Red [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/672314
Comments: 215
Kudos: 275





	1. A Soul Once Simple Pt. I

**_Everyone you love is capable of doing great and terrible things, things you never thought they could do, when they are clawing, panicking, breaking to survive. Remember this, when you watch them, at their very worst moments, And forgive them, their survival too."  
-Survival Nakita Gill_ **

**A Once Simple Soul**  
**Pt. I**

_"We have all taken turns being Red Riding Hood and we have all been the wolf."_

**― Nikita Gill**

* * *

She was lost in the crimson, nothing but a void with a single colour as far as the eye could see. Red above her and below her, she floated in the void with nothing but the muted sounds of war around her. Gunshots and explosions, some she remembered, and some were new. Voices accompanied the sounds, some she knew and some she did not, but it was hard to tell, it sounded like everything was happening outside of her void. Ruby did not mind, it could stay there for all she cared, at least she did not have to fight anymore. Then, all at once, the sounds stopped, and the colour began to run.

Ruby watched as the red of her void began to drip and funnel, collecting at her feet. The empty void had returned, and Ruby did not know what to do now, so she stayed with the red until she watched as a small drip began to pull away from the rest. A thin red line began to form, leading away from Ruby and deeper into the darkness of the void. Somewhere out there, Ruby heard her name echoing all around her and Ruby followed the line.

As she walked, she saw another line join the one she was following and then another shortly after that. Red lines from all over the void began to converge, widening the line until Ruby had to walk on it to follow it. Wondering where it was leading her, she was suddenly aware that the void had been left behind, and she had been following the red path outside.

She knew this place, she had walked the red path countless times before and will do multiple times afterwards. This time was different than before, though. This time her red path had become a river that flowed into a lake that consumed the horizon. Not even the sky was safe from the blood that flowed from the countless bodies that hung from the trees in her forest. What was once an endless black was now bleeding, ripples of crimson and abyss as rose petals floated across her sky like flocks of birds. The forest Ruby walked time and time did not belong to her anymore.

 _"Ruby,"_ Looking up at the gravestone that sat on the edge, Summer Rose looked at her daughter, and Ruby could see tears rolling down her face. _"I'm so sorry,"_ She whispered as Ruby walked up and wrapped her arms around her and felt the warmth flow from her. Crying into her mother's shoulder, Ruby could not take the pressure anymore and broke down completely. Her mother just tightened her hold on Ruby and spoke softly to help calm her.

There was nothing she could do, the Red Death was right. Atlas bombed cities and shed blood with no regard to who the enemy was. Even her friends, even Yang, betrayed her in the end. _"It's not your fault,"_ Summer whispered to her. _"It was never your fault,"_ Ruby only cried because it was her fault. She was not strong enough, not fast enough to save people, and in turn, they betrayed her.

Around her, the river flooded the lake and began to seep into her forest. Her mother's grave quickly becoming an island as the cliffside became the shore. How could she had been so blind before? No one wanted her around, not even her sister. There were only two people who truly cared for her, and one of them was holding her now. She did not know where the Red Death was now, but Ruby knew she was painting the world red like roses for Ruby's sake. After all, if there was no one to hurt her, she could finally be safe.

When the world is your enemy, there was only one thing to do.

"Ruby?" It was a familiar voice, one she had not heard from in such a long time. Turning to look back into her forest, he stood at its shore. Ozpin. She sat on her small island, surrounded by rivers, all pouring into the endless ocean of blood. She did not know why Ozpin was in her forest, but he needed to run.

"You shouldn't be here," Ruby said, her voice weak but echoed through the dead black trees that reached to a crimson sky.

"What happened?," He asked, looking at the bodies that hung from the branches. Ruby wanted to warn him, but the rose petals floating through the air appeared, it was too late.

"She's coming," She felt Summer's fingers running through her hair, trying to comfort her.

"Who is coming, Ruby," He asked, but it was too late now, she was already there. A scythe came flying from the tree line, and Ozpin quickly dodged out of the way, only to be knocked to the ground by a cloud of rose petals.

Just as quickly as he appeared, Ozpin vanished, and the Red Death approached Ruby. With a wave of her hand, the Red Death's petals brought her weapon to her. Her shirt painted red with blood, crimson poured down her face as the storm of roses surrounded them. Ruby could not look up at her and just sunk deeper into Summer's embrace. Her voice echoing in the void.

_"Where is he?"_

Ruby felt Summer pull her closer, trying to protect her from the Red Death. Seeing this, the crimson woman began to walk on top of the red water towards them and stopped at the shore of the small island.

 _"Where!"_ Ruby flinched when the Red Death barked out her question. Ruby tried to tell her she did not know where Ozpin had gone, but all that came out was a stammering sob as Summer wanted to comfort her.

 _"Leave!"_ Summer shouted at the Red Death. _"You've done enough already,"_

Kneeling down, Ruby could see the black and silver eyes, the blood that was painted on her face that soaked into her shirt. Her hair was matted down, as someone had drowned her in blood only for her to come back and take her revenge. She looked tired too. Bags under her eyes, like she had been fighting for weeks without rest. The same could be said for Summer. More wrinkles showing up on her face than Ruby remembered.

 _"Do you hate me?"_ The Red Death asked. Ruby stared at her for a long moment, unsure how to answer that question. _"After everything I've done for you. I saved you from Atlas, from the White Fang, from the Enemy. Because of me, you are alive."_

 _"Because of you,"_ Summer released Ruby and rose to her feet. Walking to the edge of the island as the Red Death rose to match her gaze. _"She has known nothing but pain. She was kind and caring. She was supposed to protect people! She was supposed to be a Huntress!"_

 _"And look at what the world did to her, to us,"_ The Red Death waved her hand as her rose petals began to form up around her. _"It fought us, hurt us, tried to kill us. Even after the good we did, they still tried to kill us. Even after she turned that Grimm to stone, they still tried to kill us. Even her so-called friends were in on it, to distract us while the sniper got into position. The world is our enemy,"_ The Red death stared deeply into Summer's eyes as a wave of red from the ocean around them sent a tidal wave to claim more of Ruby's forest.

_"And I will paint them red like roses."_

Ruby watched as the wave was about to crash over Summer's tiny island, consuming both of them in the sea of red. Summer simply raised her hand, and the water was stopped by a barrier of silver light. Ruby flinched as the light blinding her and prevented any of the Red Death's ocean from overtaking them. On Ruby's shore, she saw some of the trees with bodies hanging off of them had been consumed by the red. Looking back to her mother, Summer and the Red Death were staring each other down, the same light preventing the Red Death from stepping an inch on Summer's island.

 _"So long as there is a Huntress to protect people, you will not have her."_ Summer held her ground, and the rose petals surrounded the island, looking for a way in before falling into the water and disappearing into the depth. After a long silence, the Red Death finally turned and began to walk back into the forest.

 _"All you do is guilt and coddle her while I'm actually protecting her from the enemy. When all the world is red like roses, there will only be you left, and you cannot stop the tides with your will alone..."_ With that, the Red Death disappeared into the forest of hanging bodies, leaving Summer and Ruby alone, surrounded by the red water. Returning to Ruby, Summer sat down and pulled her close and began to drag her fingers through Ruby's hair and began to hum a melody that Ruby recognized but could not remember where it was from.

Looking up, Ruby saw the shattered moon in the crimson sky, and even that too was being consumed by the red. Many of it's smaller pieces had already been turned red while the main body had only begun to be eclipsed by the colour. How long would it be before the Red Death paints everything red like roses? The moon, her forest, even Summer. The Red Death will declare everything her enemy and not rest until everything is red. Closing her eyes, Ruby decided that as long she did not have to fight anymore, she did not care. There was nothing else for her anyways.

Maybe it was better this way.

* * *

Ozpin threw himself up and off the small couch he had been sleeping on and sprinted to the large window that dominated James' private room onboard the Mantle of Responsibility. Pressing himself up against the thick safety glass, he tried to take in as much colour as he could. The sky was blue with white clouds, the ocean below them had green tints, and the birds that were flying near the dreadnaught were a variety of reds and whites with some yellow as well.

With deep breaths, Ozpin calmed his heart and finally pulled himself away from the window and slowly walked back to his temporary bed and flopped down onto it and ran a hand through his hair. He could feel the cold sweat sticking to his skin as he looked back at what he had witnessed before and shuddered at what happened.

It was not the first time he had stepped into Ruby's dreams to communicate with her, but this time was so different he thought he had made a mistake until he found her. What's worse was not only did he find Ruby Rose, but he had found Summer Rose as well. To make matters worse, he was attacked by another Ruby Rose, but this one was covered in blood and had black eyes.

It was then Ozpin realized what he had just stumbled upon. The beginning of the end of his world.

The Red had already started, and Ruby was its origin. The only things he was missing now was the how and why. A knock at his door interrupted his train of thought and watched the door open to allow Qrow and James to enter. "You okay, Oz?" Qrow asked as he sipped on his flask and sat down in a chair while James turned on the lights.

"Yes," Ozpin cleared his throat and began to button up his shirt. "Just a nightmare,"

"You've been having a lot of those as of late," Qrow mentioned as he pocketed the flask and took a hard look at him.

"Yes, well, I've seen a lot of things in my life that I would not wish upon anyone." Ozpin finished cleaning himself up as he stood from his spot on the couch and walked over to James, who had been using the coffee maker in his room and poured a mug for him. While Ozpin made do with the instant coffee he stocked up at his cabin, he was glad James had higher standards when it came to it.

"Anything from Raven, yet?" He asked before sipping on the drink.

"Nothing," Qrow stared out the large window in the room and shook his head. "She's been gone for too long, something's happened to her."

"I agree," James said while crossing the room and leaning against the wall. "It should not have taken this long to retrieve the Relic and get back to us. We need to send someone to confirm her whereabouts."

"Patience, James," Ozpin said while setting up a small chessboard that was sitting on a small table in the room. "I seem to recall she did this before and disappeared for some years before making her reappearance to us,"

"Things are a little different right now," The General stomped towards Ozpin and stared down at her. "We are currently balancing on total annihilation, and the one person with the one tool that could stop it is missing so forgive me for being a little thin on patience right now,"

Ozpin looked up at James Ironwood and saw how tired he was. Ozpin did not know how long he had been awake for, but with how many people had been thrown into the brig for their loyalty to Watts, he knew that James was running on fumes. He was right, though. They were balancing precariously between reigniting the Second Great War and having Salem's forces overwhelm a divided populace, not to mention the growing threat that was the red. Looking over to Qrow, he nodded, and the man jumped out of his seat to find his sister.

"I'll send a team with you," James began, only for Qrow to raise his hand.

"No, they'll only slow me down. I work better on my own," Without any more words, Qrow left to begin his search, probably not before checking up on Ruby, if Ozpin had to guess. With a sigh, James occupied the seat Qrow had just vacated and rested his head in his hand.

"Worry not, there's no one better to track her down than her brother. He's had lots of practice. Fancy a game?" Ozpin asked as he finished placing the white knight piece and gestured to the game board.

"Maybe later," James said as he ran his hand down his face to try and wipe exhaustion from his body. "I've been running around all night putting out fires, I just need some rest,"

"Well, your bed is right there," Ozpin said with a smile. James just let out a hum as he leaned back in the chair and rested his head in his hand and promptly fallen asleep right there and then. Suppressing a chuckle, he let his friend sleep peacefully as he picked the white knight piece back up and reflected on what he had discovered.

Ruby Rose, the key to salvation and annihilation. Ozpin had been so worried about trying to understand what The Red was, he did not even think the infection had already started, or its host was someone with such a simple soul. The red woman in Ruby's mind attacked him without hesitation, Ruby even tried to warn him. Who was she and how is she connected to Ruby. Not to mention Summer Rose looking precisely as she had nearly twenty years ago.

With the chess piece in his hand, Ozpin examined it and rolled it in his fingers. Even if he could watch a game of chess be played a million times, there was no way he could predict every move even with an eternity to watch every game imaginable. His trump card, his knight, team RWBY, the one piece that can move to every square on the board, was now caught with a critical member out of action. Just as he got all his pieces lined up, something blocked him. With a sigh, Ozpin put the piece down and quietly left the room to James to rest in peace while he walked out into the Mantle of Responsibility.

Over the last day and a half, dozens of people had been ferried on and off of the ship of every faction and walk of life. From the Mistrali armed forces to Valenese Reclamation soldiers to White and Black Fang operatives. Atlesian personal rushing back and forth with orders, forms and weapons, trying to keep another war breaking out inside of their own ship. Stopping by a window, Ozpin saw a makeshift interrogation room where Velvet was being questioned. Their eyes connected and he simply nodded before carrying on his way, to say she was surprised was an understatement.

Walking down to the infirmary, Ozpin saw the people still in urgent care and not well enough to finish their healing outside of the limited beds available. He knew for a fact that the morgue onboard was quickly filling up, and they needed to ship the dead for proper burial sooner rather than later. The halls were crammed with people waiting to see a medic or doctor to extract shrapnel or treat burns. Everyone who needed surgery was on a waitlist that was getting dangerously long.

Stopping in front of a bed, Ozpin's eyes narrowed down at Ruby Rose, who was recovering peacefully in a bed despite being wrapped up nearly head to toe. He remembered when he first saw her. A spitting image of her mother with such large, innocent eyes and a weapon twice her size, devouring cookies and behaving like the child she was. The innocence of youth was so far gone from her now, only five years, but she had changed so much since he last saw her. Gone was that girl, a much more complex soul stands in her place.

"Come to check up on your favourite again?" Doctor Bleu asked as he picked up her chart and checked over the machine she was hooked up to.

"How is she, doctor?" Ozpin asked him.

"Well, slow going considering what was done to her," he said as he looked at the IV bag and made a note of it on her chart.

"Anything out of the ordinary?"

"Well, she did mumble something a little while ago which should not happen since she's in a coma, she might be waking up sooner than we expected so we'll have to keep an eye on her," Bleu mentioned as he walked up to Ozpin and put the chart back where he picked it up from.

"What did she say?"

"I wouldn't worry too much about it, her charts are all in order, so there's no concern," Bleu waved his hand in dismissal as he started to move to the next bed and check on the next patient.

"Please, doctor, I would like to know,"

The man stopped and eyed up Ozpin for a few moments before nodding. When he opened his mouth, he said the words that scared Ozpin even more.

"Where is my enemy?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ladies and Gentlemen, please have your tickets ready for the final boarding call for the Angst Train. As you can see, there are no emergency exits and no brakes and will not be stopping until the end of the ride. Please enjoy your trip!
> 
> I would like to welcome everyone back to this insanity where I think of the worst thing to happen to the characters and make it worse!
> 
> StreetAngelJ is still out with his surgery but is making a speedy recovery and hopefully will be back to editing my garbage soon!
> 
> If you enjoyed, leave a Kudo! If you already have, leave a comment! I love reading them and I love replying to them. This story is also posted on FF.net under the same name. So if you read there as well, come show your support!
> 
> And as always, thank you for taking time out of your busy days to read my slice of madness!


	2. Once A Shadow Without Light Pt.I

**Once A Shadow Without Light  
** _Pt. I_ **  
**

**"I am so afraid of disappointing the people I love, I often forget that I am someone I love too.  
And I need kindness just as much as I believe the people I love do."**

**― Nikita Gill**

* * *

Blake hated ships. Airships were not as bad as the ones that travelled the oceans, but she still hated them. The confined hallways with nowhere to go if something terrible happens. Sure, the _Mantle of Responsibility_ was state of the art Atlas tech, and it would take enough firepower to level half a city to take it down, but it did not change the fact that Blake hated being trapped on it. After two days of being on board, she was ready to leave with the next batch of people heading to Atlas.

Of course, she would never do it, but she was tempted.

Walking through the halls, Blake felt eyes on her wherever she went. Whispers could be heard that was calling her filth or an animal of Atlas. A Faunus, a member of the White and Black Fang no less, is given the title and authority of the Atlesian Army Specialist. It did not help that Weiss was her superior on paper either. The term 'Schnee's Pets' became the unofficial title of their squad, and Blake was struggling to keep her temper in check. Luckily, the authority that came with the rank kept those names to whispers and only directed at her back.

She had promised Yang that she would check up on Ruby, so she walked through the crowded corridors towards the infirmary. Yang had been temporarily banned from the area since she had refused to leave Ruby's side, and it took the combined might of Weiss, Blake and Neo to convince her to get something to eat and shower since she had none nothing but sit at Ruby's side. Standing at Ruby's bed, she looked down at the younger woman and sighed. Still in her coma, while her body slowly heals.

Blake could tell the bandages had been changed recently, the brown of dried blood no longer on her wrappings, making her look much better than the last time she saw her. She walked up to the bedside, gently brushed some hair tinted hair out of her face, and felt her throat tighten a little. Blake had played a role in Ruby's current condition. From not doing more when they first met back in Ritrr to their fight in Mistral, Blake felt responsible for this, and she knew the rest thought it too. "I'm sorry, Ruby," Blake whispered to her again.

How many times has she said those same words to the unresponsive girl? Blake had long lost count.

Checking with the doctors again, still no change yet. While she far from happy with the results, there was nothing she could do about it right now. With that, Blake left the med-bay and continued on her way to the mess hall for whatever was available. The area was massive in scale, it too had been converted to better accommodate the influx of soldiers from every faction of this war.

Weiss told her that the food on the _Mantle of Responsibility_ was actually pretty good in comparison. Still, with the need to feed so many more people, the quality was exchanged for quantity. Even then, the portions were small. Ten minutes to get in, eat, and leave was what was being enforced to those not confined to the flight deck barracks. Being a specialist, Blake was able to take three meals, simple kitchen cooked MREs back to her' _team',_ even if she got a glare from the people in the line.

Walking back towards their room, it had taken a while for Blake to get used to moving around the dreadnaught, let alone towards a space that Headmaster Ozpin had given to her, Yang and Neo. That was something else that needed to be explained to her now that the man himself is here. Blake knew there was some sort of secret agenda going on, but she needed to take things one at a time. Reaching the room, Blake took a deep breath and pressed the button that controlled the door.

The door opened, and Blake saw Neo sitting on the bed. Her mismatched eyes quickly hardened as she picked up her parcel and stood up from her spot. Images of what she had seen, what the woman looks like without her _"Mask."_ In all honesty, it scared Blake. Before she could say anything, Neo ripped the blade out and charged at Blake, pinning her against the door and pressing the sharp edge against her neck. Her Aura straining against the steel as it threatened to cut open her skin.

She could feel the anger coming off of Neo as she opened her mouth and spoke with her strained voice. Blake had to hold her breath and tune her heart's beating so she could hear the smaller woman.

_"She will never know…"_

It was hard to see Neo as she is now and not how Blake found her in Mistral. When she moved that large chunk of the roof, Blake nearly put it back down after seeing it was not the person she and Yang were looking for. Her eye colour might have been different, but the feel of them was the same. Blake could hardly recognize the person under the blood and dust, let alone the uncountable scars that covered her pale face. The person under the rocks was Neo but was missing all of her colours.

Before Blake could call out to Yang to help her, the smaller woman grabbed Blake's hand and yanked her hard to her level. Now up close and personal, Blake could see the anger and fear in her pale eyes. Her hand was trembling, and she had never seen the person before her on the verge of tears before. _"I got you. Let me call Yang, and we can get you out of here,"_ Blake told her as the woman trembled and shook her head. The idea of Yang seeing in in such a state terrified her more than death. Blake watched as she took deep breaths and began to focus profoundly and felt a pull in her soul. She had not studied Aura manipulation and was not skilled in it at all, but she knew enough to transfer a small amount. Letting the sensation pull a thread of her Aura, Blake watched as a little bit of Neo's Aura came back and then a shimmer washed across her body.

Her scars faded away, and her colours filled back in. Neo had returned before her very eyes. Neo nodded her head, and Blake shouted for Yang.

It was hard to believe that it had only been two days since that had happened, and now here she was, backed up against a door with a blade to her throat by the same woman she rescued. It was hard to look at the woman before her and not see what she actually looked like. Another push of the sword to her throat brought Blake from her memory, and the warning was clear. "You should show her," That only angered Neo more as Blake had to focus her Aura as the sword threatened to end her life.

With gritted teeth, Neo shook her head quickly with no compromise. Slowly, Blake reached up and placed her hand on Neo's, gently pushing the blade away from her neck. "Yang knows a thing or two about accepting people who hide what they truly are, I know that for a fact," She wiggled her Faunus ears to show this fact in the hopes to convince her of that. The blade left her skin and rested at Neo's side as she thought on Blake's words. "She can see past whatever wall you build or mask you wear, she can see into people's hearts for who they really are. I wouldn't be here right now if that wasn't the case, and neither would you,"

Blake watched the off-colour eyes shift from her to the ground while she slid the blade back where it came from and saw her body deflate a little. Before either one of them could do anything else, the door on the other side of the room opened up, and Yang walked out with a towel around her shoulders and her hair tied up into a ponytail. The tank top she wore showed off the black dragon tattooed on her skin that ended at her severed limb.

The damage from that night took its toll on everyone, including Yang's arm. It was being repaired onboard the Dreadnought. Seeing that missing arm hammered home just how much Blake had failed her friend. "Hey," Yang's soft voice echoed in the silence of the room.

"Hey," Blake responded. "I-uh got some food for us," she held up the three bags of cooked ready eat meals.

"What's on today's menu?" She asked as she walked across the room and set the towel down on the bed. Blake could still see some of the water on her skin from her shower. The smell of chemical cleanliness from military brand soap wafting off her body. Looking down at what she brought, she sighed a bit as she read off the labels.

"I got chicken, beef and pork MREs. But they were made in a kitchen, so it's a little bit better than what it usually is." Yang nodded a bit and took the pork meal off her hands. Looking at what was left, Blake extended the other options towards Neo. She could see the hesitation in her off-coloured eyes but took the beef, leaving Blake with chicken. With nowhere to sit, Blake followed the two other women to the bed, where they sat in awkward silence as the smells mixed and lingered.

The scraping of plastic utensils inside of the bags filled the air as they ate. Blake could see Yang sticking the packet between her knees and holding it there as she scooped out the military meal into her mouth. Even Neo was quieter than usual like she was as nervous as Blake about being this close to Yang after everything that had happened. With a defeated sigh, Yang shoved the spork into the packet and set it on the ground. "Alright, let's do this…"

This is what Blake was afraid of. Both Neo and Blake set their meals aside and looked towards Yang, who had her eyes closed and trying to control her breathing. Blake wanted to reach out and hold her hand but thought better of it. Blake did not want to be the first one to speak, but the longer it stretched out, the heavier the room felt. "I don't even know where to start…" Yang whispered into the air. Blake knew that feeling, but could not even begin to put the words she wanted to say in any order.

"I know you both love me, would do anything to protect that and proved that over and over again…"

"Yang," Blake interrupted the start of her speech with her soft words. Her throat tightened with what she was about to say, but it needed to be said. "I promise to respect any choice you make,"

"That's the thing I don't _want_ to choose. I can't," Looking over, Blake may Yang's soft lavender eyes and saw the conflict in her eyes. "Blake, you are my closest friend. No one could have asked for a better partner at Beacon than you. I know it was short, but I knew that I loved you since then and even after everything that happened, I still do."

Blake felt a warmth spread through her chest at Yang's words. The guilt of what she had done to Yang continued to eat at her, but knowing that Yang never once stopped loving her, it helped push so many things off her shoulders. She felt the lightest she had ever felt in her life. With her words said, Yang looked over to her other side at Neo, who was looking at the ground. When Yang gently called her name, she finally looked up.

"You came to me at my darkest moment, when everything was gone, and I had nothing left, you came and saved me. I would be dead without you. You showed me that even when I was at my worst when a part of me was taken away, I could still be loved. You brought my light back when everything else was dark,"

Blake listened to Yang's words about Neo and saw the same warmth that Blake felt enter Neo. Her eyes brightened, and a smile spread across her face. The familiar bitterness of jealousy began to form, but Blake quickly pushed it down when Yang looked away from Neo and stared at the floor.

"So many things have been taken away from me, and now, when everything is finally getting better, I have to throw something away? It's just not fair…" Her lone hand began to tremble as her voice started to wobble. Blake could see the tears beginning to form in her eyes. "Why can't I have just one win without sacrificing something else? Am I so selfish about one thing?"

Blake could see the pain in her friend, she was only moments away from a complete breakdown, and Blake knew something had to happen. With a heavy heart, Blake reached over and gripped Yang's hand and squeezed it. "You don't have to choose," Blake said as she made a choice for her. Yang was happy with Neo, anyone could have seen that. Neo was the best thing for Yang right now. When Blake was about to leave, however, something stopped her.

Looking down at her hand over Yang's, she saw Neo holding her there. Stuck between the two hands, Blake looked up and met with Neo's eyes. She tried to study them, seeking an answer to why Neo would do this, but Blake was met with a shrug. That simple gesture sent Blake's mind reeling. What the hell did that mean? When Blake shook her head in confusion, Neo reached into her jacket and pulled out her scroll. It was still her old one; Neo's record was not allowed to officially become a Specialist but was given something like a pardon for helping the military.

Only a few thumb strokes and the message was finished. _"You don't have to choose; no one wants to leave. Yang's heart is big enough for both of us, and if it's for Yang, we can be nice to each other."_

Blake could not believe what she was reading. After everything, the threats, the fights, the blood they spilled over Yang, Neo was willing to compromise just like that on something so big like this. _"You leaving would do more harm than good for Yang. The same could be said if I left instead."_

She did have a point. Blake knew Yang would only beat herself up if either of them left her. Nights spent wondering if she chose right while the others wondered the same. Blake knew she would do anything for Yang, and this seemed like the best choice on paper. "I mean, if you're okay with it," Blake looked over at Yang, who could not believe what she was reading. The blonde kept looking between Blake and Neo before she let out a small laugh.

"Can this even work?" Yang asked as she looked between the two of them. Blake looked at Neo again, and she could see the same question in her eyes, but the two of them knew the answer to it.

"If it's for you, I'm sure we can both come to an agreement…" With that, Neo gave a solid nod as she squeezed both of their hands. "It's going to take some work and a lot of compromises, but as long as you're happy, we'll move mountains to make sure of it." Neo gave another nod and reached up to wipe some tears falling from Yang's eyes. Blake let Yang's hand slip out from her own and wrap around Neo's shoulders while Yang's stump pressed against Blake's back. Knowing what she wanted, Blake leaned in and let her forehead touch Yang's while Neo came in on her other side.

All three of them pressed their heads together in the embrace while Yang softly cried. "I love you," Yang said softly as she held the two of them tightly.

"Love you too," Blake whispered back. Looking at Neo, she could see the same words mirrored in her eyes as they remained in the group hug. After a little while, Yang finally pulled away and smiled at the two of them. Blake could not remember the last time she had seen such a genuine smile on her friend's face. Standing up from the bed, Blake stretched out her back as she felt a vibration from her pocket and judging by the response from Yang and Neo, they had gotten a message as well.

When Blake reached into her pocket, her fingers brushed against something, and everything stopped for her. How could she have forgotten so easily? It had only been two days since she found out, but with all the chaos that had been happening, she pushed it to the back until she was violently reminded once again. She wrapped her fingers around it and slowly pulled it out like maybe she had gotten it wrong, but when she opened her hand, the small plastic baggie was the same with the same gold earring with dried blood and tufts of black fur stuck to them.

She heard Yang call out her name, but Blake could not take her eyes off her mother's only possession she had left. Memories flooded her mind of the last time she had seen her parents. Their smiles, their voices, the smell of the incense her mother burned regularly. How hurt they looked when Blake had yelled at them, calling her father a coward and her mother a sympathizer when she ran off with Adam to Vale. Their last words were pleads to stay away from Adam and stay home with them. Now Blake will never say any of the things she held in her heart to them again.

"What are those?" Yang asked as she stood next to Blake, looking at what was in her hand.

"They're-" Why was it so hard to speak? Her vision began to blur as tears started to form in her eyes. "They're my mother's…" Her breathing was coming quickly. She could not ruin Yang's happiness with her sadness, not after they had just worked everything out. She felt a hand on her shoulder and felt her knees grow weaker.

"She… Adam, he…" She could not say it. If she said it then it was true and Adam lies. He always lies. He had to be lying. "He killed her…"

Blake fell to her knees, and Yang was quick to catch her. The weight of her words slammed into her as she cried into Yang's shoulder, clutching her mother's earrings in her hand. Blake mourned for her mother, wept for the words she could never say to her now that she was dead. She felt her throat get sore from how hard she was crying. Yang's soft words doing little to dampen the grief she felt. She did not know how long she sat on the floor crying, but Blake saw Neo sitting next to them, her small hand running circles along her back. Compassion in her eyes as Yang gently rocked her.

When Blake felt like she had no tears left, she reached out to both women and pulled them in close. The warmth settled over her as Yang whispered to her. "He's going to pay for everything he's done. I promise you that," Blake nodded as she felt Neo reach out and gripped her hand. Blake barely knew the smaller woman but felt a kinship with her start to grow. Even as the sun began to set after everything was done, the three remained, and Blake was glad Neo had convinced her to stay. Despite doing everything for Yang's sake, Blake could not help but feel happy about the thought of never being alone again, either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at that, an actual schedule!
> 
> My wonderful editor is still out but will hopefully be back soon with a full recovery soon so everything will be much easier to read.
> 
> If you enjoyed, leave a Kudo! If you already have, leave a comment! I love reading them and I love replying to them. This story is also posted on FF.net under the same name. So if you read there as well, come show your support!
> 
> And as always, thank you for taking time out of your busy days to read my slice of madness!


	3. A Once Inferno Smothered To Embers  Pt. I

**_A Once Inferno Smothered To Embers_ **

_Pt. I_

**_"And sometimes, you are going to be  
_** **_as fierce as a dragon,  
_ ** **_armed in scales of impenetrable gold,  
_ ** **_and sometimes you are going to be  
_ ** **_as vulnerable as a lamb,  
_ ** **_soft and comforting in newborn wool.  
_ ** **_Both versions of you deserve to be loved.  
_ ** **_Both versions of you are needed.  
_ ** **_Both versions of you are beautiful."_ **

― Nikita Gill

* * *

The soft beeping of medical machines filled the area around Ruby's bed. Tubes and wires hung off Yang's little sister, and she wanted to tear each of them off and nurse Ruby back herself, but she knew that the doctors knew way more than she did. Still, after everything Yang went through to get Ruby back after Atlesian soldiers shot her, Yang did not want Ruby to be anywhere near them. Even after Weiss told Yang about the strange cult of unification and Ironwood's instance that he had rooted them out on the Dreadnaught, Yang still was on edge.

Three days since being given the rank of Specialist onboard the _Mantle of Responsibility_ and she had been given her first order: Gear up and wait for next orders.

Of course, that was easier said than done since the prosthetic arm Yang used was still being repaired. While she could still use it no problem, after fighting with Ruby, there was extensive internal damage that, if left unchecked, would cause significant problems down the line. On top of that, since she was a newly recruited Specialist, she also got the authority to get a few upgrades from the onboard engineers.

Truthfully, she did not want any upgrades, just fix the arm and give it back to her, but after fighting all that Grimm, she realized that she needed more firepower. She was supposed to get her arm back today, she was just waiting on a call from the engineers. So for now, Yang was sitting by Ruby's side, watching her sister rest peacefully in a medical bed. Yang was making a mental list of what to talk to Ruby about when she wakes up when the curtain opened to reveal Blake.

"Hey," Yang whispered with a smile at her partner.

"Hey," Blake replied as she stood next to Yang's chair. "How's she doing?"

"Good, still sleeping, but her wounds are healing kinda slowly. That Aura stimulant really screwed with her natural Aura manifestation, so they're keeping a closer eye on her for now,"

"Well, according to Weiss, the Stimulant she was using was never designed to be used for as long as she had been using it. Just a quick boost to start the Aura then regular healing. Whatever stockpile she got her hands on was likely a bulk supply that was supposed to go to a MASH camp or something, Weiss's still checking the records on it." Yang felt Blake's hand rest on her shoulder and give a squeeze. "She'll be okay, she's stronger than we give her credit for,"

"I know," Yang reached up with her one hand and held onto Blake's. Yang just enjoyed the feeling on Blake's hand on her own as she smiled up at her. "Nice chest, by the way," That got a roll of the eyes from Blake as well as a chuckle. Another perk of being a Specialist was the body armour, specifically, the chest plate. Much like Weiss', Blake's chest place was white with her rank and name printed on the front corner as well as a number and symbol designating her company and squad. Yang had the same chest plate but needed to get it modified. Apparently, standard deviation Atlesian armour does not cover Yang's chest. Who knew that Atlesian's had smaller chests in general?

Still holding onto Blake's hand, Yang could see the distance in her eyes, the thoughts dancing just under the surface. "How you holding up?" Yang asked with a squeeze of her hand. Yang knew the trauma of losing a parent suddenly, but Blake did not have a copious amount of alcohol to numb her senses to it. The only thing Yang could do was be there for Blake during this time for her. Blake let a sigh and shook her head.

"Not great," She admitted. "There are just so many things I wish I had said, and now I'll never get the chance…" Yang squeezed her hand harder as she heard the emotion coming from her voice. "It's hard to accept the fact that she's just… gone, just like that…"

"I know…" Yang gently released her hand and wrapped her arm around Blake's waist and pulled her closer. From her seat, Yang's head rested against Blake's side and tried to comfort her the best she could. Yang remembered the feeling of waking up in her home and wondering where her father was, only to be hit with the fact that he was never coming home again. A sensation quickly drowned with booze. "No matter how bad things get, remember you have us,"

"I know," Blake took a deep breath and ran her hand through Yang's hair. The sensation of her nails skimming her scalp could put Yang to sleep, but the good feeling was gone too soon when Blake moved away with a sigh. "I need to get going though, the General wants my input about the Black Fang and what to do with the White Fang we managed to save from Mistral," Yang nodded and released Blake so she can go on but stopped her when she gripped her hand one last time.

"Love you," She said with a smile. Blake returned the words with a smile and was all but yanked down to Yang's level to kiss the girl. It was a quick kiss, but Yang tried to put as much love and warmth into it. She felt Blake push back against it, it deepened for a second before pulling away with a blush on her face. Yang could not help but smile at how cute she looked with her face all red. "I know it wasn't much of a first kiss, but I hope I did alright,"

"That… wasn't our first kiss," Blake grimaced.

"Wait, what? When did we kiss?"

"When you were blackout drunk, and I had to carry you back to Neo that one time,"

Yang just groaned and ran her hand down her face. "Damn it…"

"It's okay, I'll count this one like it," Blake smiled as she finally left Yang alone with Ruby in the infirmary. Yang could not help but smile at her partner as she left, but the smile disappeared as soon as she was out of eyesight. Another good moment ruined by her own drinking addiction. She pulled her flask out, stared at the faded yellow leather band wrapped around the metal container, and shook it to guess how much she had left. Popping open the cap, she brought the opening to her mouth and tilted her head back to let the poison past her lips.

With her promise to Neo, she relented at one gulp before lowered it and closing it. She wanted more, she really wanted more, to just down the whole thing and ignore the work and pain around her. But she could not do that to Neo and Blake after everything that has happened. With all her willpower, Yang pocketed the flask and leaned back in her seat and held her head in her hand. "Baby steps…" She whispered to herself.

_"Specialist Xiao Long to the engineering bay! Specialist Xiao Long to the engineering bay!"_

The announcement made her jump as the voice interrupted her thoughts of maybe taking another sip would not hurt. Glad for the distraction, she pushed herself out of her chair and leaned over Ruby to kiss her forehead. "I'll be back," she told her little sister before leaving the infirmary and down the Dreadnaught's halls.

It took Yang some time to get to the engineering bay from the infirmary. The closer she got, the more pungent smell of machine oil and grease got. Arriving through the door, she was assaulted by the sound of machines drilling and cutting all kinds of materials to repair weapons, vehicles and in Yang's case, prosthetic limbs. Walking up to the desk, the person behind it looked up and hovered at the stump of her right arm.

"Xiao Long?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. He had safety glasses on and a disassembled handgun across his desk.

"Yep," Yang said with a small sigh. With a head jerk, the man began to walk deeper into the bay, and Yang followed him to a work station with her arm sitting on a small stand. Her first impression of it was that it was much larger than it was before. Next to it was the remaining half of Ember Celica, clean and polished and better than she had seen it in a long time.

"Right, first things first," The man said as he plopped a scroll tablet on the table and brought up the specs in a hologram for her to see. "So, we've upgraded the capacity of your rounds, so you'll be able to use your ammo belts that you were using before. We also added more plating when it's opened and ready to fire," To prove his point, he hit a switch on the scroll and her arm transformed in front of her eyes. The wrist expanded, and extra armour plates slid up the wrist, covering the entire forearm in more protection.

"We also added some new types of ammo you can use with it, like these little bastards here; this is a sticky grenade that can be triggered remotely by you," He placed one of them on the table, and Yang picked it up to inspect it. It did not weigh any different than her usual shots, and she would never say no to more utility. "If you have any questions, I'm sending a manual of the upgrades and specs to your scroll," He tapped a few more commands into his scroll, and Yang felt hers vibrate with a chime.

With a nod, Yang lifted the arm, lined up the ports from the arm to her stump, and locked it in. After a quick electrical jump as the plugs connected, Yang moved her new arm around and flexed her fingers. Happy that everything was working as well as it was before, she focused and pooled her Aura into her arm. She watched as the chrome metal react to her Aura and turn a brilliant yellow as it had before. The familiar dulled sensation of touch returned, and she picked up her old bracelet and slipped it over her left wrist.

"How's the fit?" the man asked as he came around to inspect the fit and make sure everything was working fine.

"Fine, feels good to be armed again," Yang smirked as the man gave her a deadpanned look and pointed to the door.

"Get that shit out of here,"

"Your loss," Yang shrugged and started leaving the engineering bay before she started a riot with how funny she was. Before she could leave, Yang met with someone that looked familiar with white hair and rich blue eyes hobbling into the bay on a set of crutches with one leg of her pants rolled and pinned above her knee. They locked eyes with each other before the older woman nodded.

"Specialist Xiao Long," She nodded.

"Uh, hi. Do I know you?" Yang asked, "I don't want to be rude or anything, but you seem really familiar,"

"Yes, you know my sister, Weiss," Then it all clicked in for Yang. The hair and the eyes were a dead give away. She remembered Weiss talking about her often in Beacon and recently since her room was next to Ruby's in the infirmary. "Thank you for looking after her for me,"

"Yeah, no problem," Yang said as she stepped out of the way and followed Winter to a different station in the engineering bay where a leg was sitting on a similar stand and Yang's arm. "Weiss told me what happened to you with the poison and everything, I'm sorry about that, I didn't know that would happen to you,"

"No one did," Winter said as she sat down in a chair that Yang brought over, seeing there was nowhere for the elder Schnee to sit to attach her leg. "Thank you. We're still not sure how deep Watts got his tendrils, but we're working on it," The woman sighed as she set the crutches against the table and lifted the leg off the stand and inspected it before undoing the pins that held the pant leg closed.

"Still, it's good to see you're okay."

"Your concern is appreciated," She said as she lined up the caps and slipped into place. Yang watched as the familiar momentary pain of the connections passed her face before taking a deep breath. "If you don't mind me asking, how long have you had your arm? You seem like you can use it so naturally,"

Yang lifted up the metal and carbon limb and inspected it. How long had it been since she had gotten it? How long since Yang had left Patch? It was hard to describe the passage of time since she was rushing from battle to battle, drunken haze to nearly dying a bunch of times. The three days she spent on the Dreadnaught felt like an eternity while travelling across Sanus and Anima to get to Mistral felt like only a few days when it must have been longer.

"I don't know, not that long, though, a few weeks, maybe?" Yang said as she tried to think of how long it had been. "The days had been kinda blurring together for the last while,"

"A few weeks?" Winter asked as she stared at her arm.

"Yeah, it was tough when I was thinking about it, but once I channelled my Aura through it, it seemed like it knew what to do after that…" Yang grimaced as she scratched the back of her head. "Does that make sense? It's really hard to describe, and I don't know if that made any sense…"

Winter only stared at her before pushing herself onto her feet. "Yes, I understand, thank you." Her eyes were unfocused, and it sounded like she was distracted. "If you'll excuse me, Specialist, I have somewhere I need to be," Without waiting for a reply, Winter rushed past Yang out of the engineering bay, limping with every step. Weiss had told Yang that Winter was Ironwood's second in command, and she must be swamped. Still, it was nice to know that she was not the only one to have a cybernetic limb, it would be nice to talk to her about it in the future.

Since she did not need to be in here anymore, Yang began to walk across the Dreadnaught towards the armoury. With her weapons back in her possession, she needed to get a requisition order for her ammunition. She was on her way when someone caught her eye, someone she had not seen since before the Mistral battle. "Emerald?"

The woman, who was about to walk past her stopped, and they stared at each other. Before Emerald could react, Yang rushed towards her and wrapped her arms around her friend and pulled her in close. "Oh my god, I've been so worried about you!" The woman in her arms struggled against the hold, but Yang refused to let her go until she knew Emerald was safe. Finally, Yang released her and held her by her shoulders so she could breathe.

"Why would you be worried about me?" Emerald asked as she fought to get some of Yang's hair out of her face. In hindsight, it probably would have been better to warn her, but Yang was just so happy to see someone she thought might have been dead.

"Why wouldn't I be worried about my friends?"

Emerald just stared at her with her red eyes. "Since when were we friends?" Yang just stared back at her.

"Since Patch?" Yang was not sure why Emerald was having such a hard time understanding that. "You came to help me, over and over again. Like it or not, you are my friend, and I always care for them. Have you not had a friend before?"

Emerald was quiet, trying to understand the words Yang had told her. "Not like this," her voice was soft, and Yang wrapped her up in another hug, this was recuperated by the woman in her arms.

"Well, this is what friendship feels like, and it's not just me. The rest of the team will be more than willing to help you out too, trust me on that." When they finally released, she could see tears welling in Emerald's eyes, and Yang could not help but to smile a little.

"Thank you,"

"No problem," Yang said as she rubbed Emerald's back. "So, what are you doing here?" She asked as they began to walk down the halls together.

"I've been helping Ozpin." She said once she collected herself. "For a man who seems to know everything, he still needs a pretty big team to get everything done. We've been working on trying to find out who else was in Watt's inner circle and rooting them out,"

"Yeah, it was those assholes who shot Ruby,"

"How's she doing, by the way?"

"Good, recovering but still in a coma. Hopefully, she wakes up soon,"

Emerald nodded as they made it to the armoury. Yang told her that she needed to put an order in for her shells, and Emerald had some business to take care of for Ozpin and Ironwood. Yang turned to walk in when she heard Emerald call her name out. Leaning back out, she saw Emerald nervously rubbing her hands together.

"I don't suppose you've seen Jaune, have you?"

"No, I haven't," Yang said and saw Emerald deflate a bit. "Hey, there were lots of Bullheads heading out of Mistral, and not all of them were coming here. I'm sure he's out there just fine. He's a tough guy, I'm sure he's fine. We'll see him again, I know it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if this chapter feels a little bit like a filler, the Recovery Arc is more about character's interactions with each other rather than any major battles. Now, that's not to say that there won't be big fights, I've got plenty of those coming up but it won't be the main focus. 
> 
> StreetAngelJ is still out with his surgery but is making a speedy recovery and hopefully will be back to editing my garbage soon!
> 
> If you enjoyed, leave a Kudo! If you already have, leave a comment! I love reading them and I love replying to them. This story is also posted on FF.net under the same name. So if you read there as well, come show your support!
> 
> And as always, thank you for taking time out of your busy days to read my slice of madness!


	4. A Once Pure Snowfall Pt. I

**_A Once Pure Snowfall_ **

_Pt.I_

**_"And you say you are broken,_ **

**_but broken mirrors like you create the most beautiful patterns of light."_ **

**_― Nikita Gill_ **

* * *

Weiss took a deep breath and held it as she focused intently on the ringing that took over her head. Sitting in the bathroom onboard the Mantel of Responsibility, she tried to focus on the sound of anything around her, only for it to be completely drowned out. To make matters worse, her hand started to shake this morning, the tremor that began forming when she was away from the front line did nothing but confirm that she changed.

It seemed so long ago, her talk with Winter in a cafe on the streets of Atlas. The idea that the war not only changed who she was, that she needed it to be normal. Just the thought of conflict calmed her nerves a little bit. The fact that she hated even more. Slamming her fist against the metal stall, she felt the pain enter her system and bring her back to the reality that the war was over, that she should be happy. Instead, she sat on a toilet, willing her body to obey.

Slowly, the ringing began to fade, and the last breath she held was slowly released. Looking down at her hand, she saw the tremble and decided that her hearing coming back was one victory enough for now. Leaving the stall, she walked over to the sink and looked at herself in the mirror and saw the bags under her eyes had grown. Even with her sleeping on the floor in her room, the mere fact that the war was over was causing her nights to become long.

With a sigh, she left after washing her hands and continued her path down the corridors of the Dreadnaught when the ringing started. Of course, she needed to see one of the medics on board, but there were more important tasks to do before they could see her. A little hearing loss was nothing compared to people still needing shrapnel taking out of bodies. Even with most of the people already in Atlas or on their way, Weiss kept pushing her own medical problems away.

Inside the command room, Weiss made her way to her station. A tiny desk with a single terminal on it. Piled was paperwork she needed to fill out as well as assignments she had to do. Looking them over, she began to get to work when a blinking light on the terminal caught her attention. Opening her mail, she was surprised to see something from the SDC concerning the Aura Stimulant. Quickly opening it, she began to read through the tests and procedures that had been done while it was still being developed but found something even more worrying.

The Stimulant was only in R&D for two months before the first clinical trial happened. Then it was shortly described as a miracle drug for combat scenarios that were used during the First Assault on Vacuo.

All of it was signed for by Arther Watts.

Weiss stared at the report and fought every part of her body to throw whatever was closest to her. Of course, he would streamline an experimental drug that turned regular people into super-soldiers with a single dose. While on paper, Weiss could not argue with the results, which would take several weeks for a Specialist to recover from a severe injury, it could be done in a day with the Aura Stimulant. It could even be used in concentrated doses in the middle of a battle to give them the upper edge.

Weiss's fight with Jaune came to mind as well as what it did to Ruby was evidence enough to see its appeal.

But there was not nearly enough testing to see what the possible side-effects were. To think her father pocketed the money he got from agreeing to throw every regulation out the window when developing the Stimulant was infuriating. Not to mention that she did not have access to the confidential test results needed to better help Ruby recover from this addiction. Putting a reminder to herself to message her brother, she collected her completed folders and handed them in before leaving to check on her friend in the infirmary.

Even with the decreasing amount of people that the Dreadnaught was carrying, the infirmary was still filled to capacity. She made her way past the few rooms of recovering soldiers and fighters. Guards were posted in front of the ones with White Fang and former enemy combatants inside. Weiss was glad Ironwood saw reason when it came to the Faunus of the White Fang and carried out their treatment in the same way as he did with the Mistrali.

Arriving at Ruby's room, she nodded to the guard outside her door and set him at ease as she walked past him and into the tiny room. Ruby had been moved from the general recovery to a private room at Weiss's request. Inside, Ruby laid in the bed, unmoved from her previous position the last time she had come to see her. With a sigh, Weiss walked to her bedside and lightly brushed some of Ruby's hair out of her face and traced her features with her fingertips.

It broke her heart to see her like this, even more since Weiss caused it. "I'm sorry, Ruby," Her voice momentarily drowned out the beeping of the machines that were monitoring the young woman. No matter how many times she whispered those words, nothing helped her recover faster. The best Weiss can do now was hold onto Ruby's hand and squeeze, hoping she could feel it.

"Specialist," Weiss looking up at the medic as he entered the room with a Scroll tablet in hand.

"Doctor," Weiss nodded to him, "How is she doing?"

"Still no change," He said, looking over his tablet. "I told you that I would contact you when something happens,"

"I know," she nodded slightly as she looked down at Ruby. "I got some reports back from the SDC about the stimulant, I'll be sending them to you before the end of the day,"

"That will help. While the Stimulant is great for you guys, seeing what an untreated addiction of that stuff looks like makes me glad I'm not down there with those beasts,"

Weiss could not fault him for that statement. When she first heard of it, she realized how many lives it could save, from the Huntsmen themselves to the countless people they could go on and save. But now she only wants to save one. "Please let me know the second something changes,"

"I will, Specialist. Oh, and send your teammate with the arm down here. She needs a check-up before she returns to duty,"

With the promise to send Yang down, she waited for the doctor to leave before she bent down to place a soft kiss onto Ruby's forehead. The contact alone made her heart skip a beat—memories of their rendezvous in that cellar in the desert. Ruby's features highlighted by the steams of moonlight seeping in from the floorboards above them. Their kiss that led to so much more that night.

When the morning came, and the Grimm were gone, Weiss saw whatever overcame Ruby that night wash away, and the soldier stood before her again. Looking back at it now, it was not hard to see that something was wrong with Ruby. Something not right in her head. The way she mumbled to herself, the sudden bursts of anger and nervous twitches in her hands. Hands that wrapped around Weiss's neck moments before she left.

The next time Weiss saw Ruby was on that rooftop, and the hell that followed.

Knowing that Weiss would spend all day at Ruby's side, she forced herself away from the bed and carried on with her tasks. Walking out of the medical bay, she made her way down two levels to the engineering bay, specifically the Specialist armaments. The general soldiers had their own armoury for their mundane weapons, but this area was filled with state of the art equipment and enough Dust for anyone's needs in the workshop.

Stopping at her own locker held that housed her weapon, she saw a few lockers had their nameplates removed, and new ones in their places. The casualties in Mistral were massive. Over half of the deployed specialists were either dead or got a medical discharge from the army. A few of the new names she recognized, Weiss had read the dossier of new specialists recruited from the few Huntsmen they saved from Mistral that night.

Full citizenship for only a year of service sounded like a good deal to Weiss, especially since Atlas is going to offer an unconditional surrender to Vale. With Ozpin at the helm of peace negotiations, Weiss was confident that it would go well for everyone.

Pulling her weapon from the locker. Weiss sheathed it into place before walking further into the armoury to get to where confiscated weapons were being held. On either side of the door, more armed guards stood as sentries for the weapons. Weiss had to wait to be processed before she was allowed in, even with her clearance level.

Walking down the racks, she saw shelves filled to the brim with a colourful assortment of Huntsmen weapons. Just the idea of this place would make Ruby lose her mind. Everything that could be imagined was being here down here, including what was left of Crescent Rose.

Sitting on a table, the weapon laid bare for all to see. What few parts could be quickly grabbed when they evacuated Mistral sat beside it. Weiss gently ran her fingertips across the weapon and felt a sadness deep in her soul. The weapon Ruby cared so much about was seated in two large pieces. The main body broke open with its cracked and broken gears exposed. Even with how much Ruby boasted and explained the inner working to Weiss, there was no chance she could begin to decipher the complexity of Crescent Rose.

Happy that the weapon had been untouched since last Weiss checked on it, there was nothing left but to meet up with the rest of her team to discuss what will be happening next and their roles during the surrendering. It was strange that Ozpin allowed Yang and Blake to have the room he was supposed to have, but Weiss had known that he was the kind of man to always be a few steps ahead, his appearance in Mistral was proof enough of that. Weiss was still waiting on some comment from him about his sudden appearance, but nothing had come of it yet.

Knocking on the door, Weiss watched the door slide open to reveal Yang with a small smile. "Hey," She said as she moved aside to let Weiss in.

"Hello," Weiss replied as she stepped into the room and looked around to see that no one else was there. "Where's Blake?"

"Getting some food with Neo to bring back,"

Right, Neo. Roman Torchwick's partner in crime. Weiss had forgotten that Neo had come with Yang and Blake when they dragged her into saving the smaller woman. "How is she?'

"She's good," Yang said as she sat on the bed and scratched the back of her neck. Weiss noticed that Yang's arm had been upgraded already. Weiss was glad that her request had been approved so quickly "Things have been a little awkward, but we're getting through it, slowly but surely,"

Weiss levelled a look at her friend. "Are you sure it's going to work out with all three of you?"

"There's a lot of bridges to be built, but they're both willing to put a lot of effort into this relationship. Hence them, getting food for us. Leaving me alone…" Weiss could see the nervous tapping of her fingers against her lap as she stared at the door. Seeing a need to change the subject, Weiss cleared her throat and sat down next to her friend.

"I checked up on Ruby today,"

"How is she?" Yang asked quickly. Weiss knew she had checked on her sister already today. She was sure that Blake had to drag Yang from Ruby's room so she could get proper rest.

"Still unresponsive, but healing." Yang nodded with a heavy sigh as she held her head in her hands.

"The last time I saw Ruby was at Dad's funeral. I can't even remember what I said to her, but before that, my lasts words were _'leave me alone,'_ I still remember the look on her face as she left the house that day and how disappointed she was in me…" A heavy sigh left her lips as Yang reached into a pocket to take out a flask with a faded yellow leather band around it. She downed two gulps before setting it down. "Uh, don't tell Blake and Neo, I'm supposed to be cutting down…" She added as she capped the flask.

"Well, that's the first time I've seen you take a drink today," Weiss said with a smile. With a grateful nod, Yang put it away and let out a breath. "The last time I saw Ruby, she was screaming about seeing herself as a monster, that this war had turned her into some sort of irredeemable creature that is only made for killing…" Weiss gently touched her own neck, remembering Ruby's fingers wrapping around it before leaving her behind.

"When was the last time you saw her?" Yang asked with a confused look on her face.

This was the second time Weiss was reminded of _what_ happened the last time the two were together. She could already feel the heat rushing to her face as she cleared her throat. "Well…

* * *

Blake was walking with a tray in her hands, more prepared MREs, but she could not stop the excitement in her voice. "I mean, the adaptation wasn't _bad,_ but they did skim over some of my favourite parts," Next to her, Neo was also holding a tray and nodded her head with Blake's statement. While Blake had been hesitant to have Neo with her to grab lunch for all three of them to get to know each other, Blake was surprised when she found another fan of her favourite series. "Don't get me started on that last book though, nothing but a cash grab with none of the depth she used to have,"

Another enthusiastic nod came from the smaller woman as she balanced her tray with one hand expertly while taking her scroll out to type at it. While Blake was slowly getting better at the gesture language Neo had made for herself, she was still nowhere near as proficient as Yang was.

_"There was supposed to be a new series based on the books in the works before the world went to shit,"_

"Damn it! Just another thing to add to the worst day in my life," Blake said as they rounded the corner to their room. Just before they reached the door, however, Blake picked up yelling, coming from their room. With a raised eyebrow at Neo, who shrugged, the two of them walked through the door and into the aftermath of a war.

The bed had been thrown across the room, the end table was on the other side near the door, and Yang was stuck to the wall. Her limbs were frozen in place with ice while she struggled to get free while screaming at Weiss, who was standing with her back turned to Yang, holding her nose as blood streamed down her face. Neo was already making her way towards Yang, so Blake set her tray down and walked towards Weiss. "What the hell happened here?" She asked as Blake turned Weiss around so she can see the wound.

"WEISS DEFILED MY SISTER!" Yang screamed as she continued to struggle. Blake blinked at the statement and looked at Weiss, who stayed silent at the accusations.

"Neo! Don't let her down or the whole ship drops to the ground," Blake called out to the smaller woman, who was starting to chip away at some of the ice around Yang's arm.

"No, no! Let me down so I can KILL THAT BITCH!" her struggle continued as she screamed out in frustration. Blake focused back on Weiss as she moved her hands out of the way and saw her nose sitting at the wrong angle. Placing her hands on Weiss's face, she gently used her thumbs to reset the nose back into place.

"Did you really?" Blake asked.

Wincing at the pain of her nose being pushed back into the right position, she spoke while wiping the blood off her face. "During our last encounter, Ruby and I were in a cellar in the middle of the desert and were about to meet our end by a horde of Grimm. So, I decided that my last moment alive should be spent doing something I wish I had done before, so I kissed Ruby. Things escalated quickly, and I brought her to climax with my hand,"

Blake just stared at Weiss after the words came out of her mouth while Neo broke down in silent laughter, and Yang resumed her rage fulled fight against Dust infused ice holding her against the wall. "Did you use those exact words?"

"I thought it would dampen her reaction,"

"Uh-huh, was that before or after she broke your nose?"

"Before,"

Before anything else could happen, a blaring siren made Blake flinch and cover her ears as the whole ship began to vibrate. _"All hands to stage one Battlestations! All hands to stage one Battlestations! This is not a drill!"_ As soon as the announcement was finished, the ship shook as its weapons fired. Both Blake and Weiss rushed to the window to see what was happened since this was supposed to be a peaceful operation, only to see a blanket of black covering the grasslands that surrounded a city.

Entire patches of the blanket were ripped out with each volley of fire from the Dreadnaught but were quickly filled with the pure mass of the Grimm out there. Looking at the city walls, there were holes in the metal and concrete where the Grimm were forced to funnel in, giving the defenders some advantage, but there were not enough munitions in the world to kill them all.

With another call to arms from the speakers, Weiss dispelled her ice that kept Yang on the wall, and the three of them rushed to the armoury to gear up before they landed to help evacuate the civilians from the last bastion outside of Atlas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry its been so long since the last update. The world has kinda been sucking the motivation away from me...
> 
> StreetAngelJ is still out with his surgery but is making a speedy recovery and hopefully will be back to editing my garbage soon!
> 
> If you enjoyed, leave a Kudo! If you already have, leave a comment! I love reading them and I love replying to them. This story is also posted on FF.net under the same name. So if you read there as well, come show your support!
> 
> And as always, thank you for taking time out of your busy days to read my slice of madness!


	5. A Once Fallen Sky Pt. I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday, RWBY!

**_A Once Fallen Skyline  
_ ** _Pt.I_

**_Like time suspended, a wound unmended– you and I. We had no ending, no said goodbye; For all my life, I'll wonder why._ **

**_-Lang Leav_ **

* * *

Coco was ripped from her sleep by a scream. In the haze of her bedroom, she looked around the room, thinking maybe she had just imagined it, but it echoed out again. She knew that scream, but who? Awake but not conscious, Coco looked to the window and tried to focus her only working eye on the predawn light turning the darkness of night into soft purples that could never be copied.

Another scream and Coco noticed that it came in regular intervals. Two seconds another one would rip through her cloudy mind, almost mechanical.

That was not a scream, it was a siren.

_Grimm._

The realization slapped her in the face, and Coco jumped out of bed and ran around her bedroom, getting dressed as quickly as she could. Behind the siren's wailing, she could hear the heavy machine guns that lined the walls of Fei-yan. She knew those guns could take care of a small group of lesser Grimm, and there were always a few Huntsmen posted on the walls just to make sure, but if the siren was going off, that meant something had gone wrong.

Grabbing her weapon on her way out the door, she saw people in her building, already evacuating to the bunkers around the city. Blurry eyed people with crying children, all heading towards the stairs in their pyjamas with emergency bags over their shoulders. Coco did not have time to wade through the people, all trying to make it down the five floors of stairs, so she grabbed the railing and leapt over it.

Pulsing her Aura, she landed on the ground floor and felt the concrete crack and sink slightly with her landing from her weapon's weight. It was not the first time she had done this, but she needed to get out into the streets as fast as possible. When she waded through the mass of people and looked around the road, she saw people rushing back and forth. Soldiers with weapons set up barricades and got ready while people were moving as quickly as possible.

Before Coco could go to her muster point, a scream permeated the air above her. Spinning around, she saw a flock of Griffon Grimm descend onto the street, sending people screaming and sprinting away as the Grimm broke off and began their hunt. Without a second thought, Coco swung her arm and caught her weapon in her hands, opened the rotating barrels and aimed at the first one and carved it up with a hail of bullets.

These simple Grimm were already here meant that something had gone wrong with the anti-air guns stationed around the walls.

The Griffons were young, so her bullets tore right through them like paper. Looking back into the sky, she saw streaks of fire trying to take down Grimm's flying horde surrounding them. Bullheads were already engaging with them, but nothing could stop the sheer amount of Grimm that was invading them. Rushing up to the nearest group of soldiers, one of them nodded to her as their guns were trained on the streets. "What the hell is happening out there?" Coco demanded as she eyed up the one with a piece of communication equipment on him.

"The biggest horde anyone's ever seen just broke through the wall, we're trying to evacuate everyone, but we can't get the ships in the air!" He shouted as the sound of gunfire began getting louder. Everyone just looked over at him, and Coco saw their faces drop. They were supposed to be the Reclamation army, but nothing could ever prepare ordinary people for what the Grimm were capable of. "What the hell are we going to do?" He whispered as he dropped to his knees and stared down at the ground.

Reaching out, she grabbed his shirt and hauled him up onto his feet so she could yell in his face. "YOU FUCKING FIGHT!" She threw him against the other soldiers. "People are dying out there, it's your fucking job to do everything you can to save them!" Movement caught her attention, and she saw black features charging towards them. Nightmares, horse-like Grimm that always travelled around in packs with razors on their hooves, sprinted towards them.

Kicking a soldier out of the way, Coco mounted the makeshift barricade of sandbags and braced herself for the recoil from Gianduja as she Hyped up her bullets. A single shot would tear though the hide of most Grimm, but with her Semblance on full blast, each round became a warhead. The herd quickly began to trip over the dead bodies and fall to the ground as their massive corpses were thrown down the road from their momentum. The soldiers saw them coming and abandoned their positions, but Coco just stood there as the bodies Disapated before hitting the blockade. She let the black smoke wash over her before looking back at the soldiers and removing her glasses, allowing them to see the scars that marred her face and her useless eye.

"So pull up your big girl panties and get moving!" She shouted at them. "Tell everyone to stay in their homes until we can escort them! Lock the bunkers nearest to the wall down with whoever they can get in before the horde gets any deeper!" The soldier began to shout over the radio at whoever was in charge, but Coco knew that she needed to make decisions quickly. By sealing the bunkers before they were at capacity, she would be dooming those who could not get there and saving people from the Grimm, but if they did not clear the streets, those people would eventually starve to death.

She did not know what was worse; that or being torn apart in seconds in their own living room. Not that Coco would get to experience either of those options judging from how choked the skies were with Grimm. With the number of times, she had looked death in the face and grinned was too many to count, but somewhere deep down, Coco felt this was the last time she saw the sunrise in the morning.

With a deep breath, she slipped the glasses over her face and headed towards the coming horde. The people behind her needed someone to inspire them, and she needed to do something to stem the Grimm flow. Ahead, people began rushing towards her, crying civilians and soldiers shouting at them to keep moving washed around her like a river. With the tip of her weapon, she dragged it across the road, marking a line that she would protect. She stood with the dawn, the light cascading past the buildings and illuminating hatred in bestial form.

Spinning the barrels of her weapon, she waited for the moment the last fleeing civilian was just past her range before unleashing hell towards the horde. She Hyped up her bullets, exploding her munitions when they hit their targets. The frontline was quickly blanketed in a smoke scream of Grimm Dissipate, but she kept firing. Her arms began to go numb from the recoil of her constrain stream of fire, but she still held on, the shell casings cascading around her feet as she screamed to draw in as many as she could.

"GET SOME!" She screamed as the horde continued their advance towards her. Slowly, the line of smoke began to inch closer to her; they were starting to outnumber her bullets. Before she could reposition, a towering figure burst from the smoke and charged towards her. A Goliath with its armoured head pointed down was spriting right towards her. The thickness of the bone plate made her bullets bounce off, and Coco needed to move. Rolling out of the way, she looked back and saw the monster barrel through her apartment building like it was made of children building blocks.

She had no idea if any of the soldiers managed to evacuate it before that happened, but she could not worry about it right now. Turning back to see the creatures in front of her, Coco swung her weapon around and smacked a Grimm out of the way, she could hear bones snapping from the weight of her bag as she opened fire again into the horde. Looking down as it cried out at her feet, a cold chill went down her spine as she recognized the Grimm spasming on the ground.

It was one of the spider Grimm that came off that massive spider lady Grimm back in Ritrr! She remembered when Ruby took that thing down and how her body melted and formed an army of Grimm. They had travelled through the desert and forests to get here and probably gathered every Grimm for miles. Coco did even want to think about what happened to the smaller cities and villages they came across to get here.

She pulled back, managed to get to a checkpoint where she stocked up on her ammo and downed a water bottle before running out to try and give cover to the next group of people trying to flee to the northern bunkers of the city. Racing across the city with another squad of soldiers, only to have them picked off one by one as she struggled to protect everyone. Spines rained from the sky and impaled three people before Coco could open fire on the Grimm that flung them from it's back. A Hulk smashed through a building to turn one of her soldiers into a bloody smear on the sidewalk before she could gun him down.

Hours passed, and the number of people she could protect was dwindling. The checkpoint had fallen, and Coco had to run with the last group across a large park towards one of the last bunkers that were still open. Her Aura was running low, and the heat from the sun was making her sweat, but again, she ran behind the people all sprinting, praying that they had room for them. Hearing the Grimm behind her, Coco yelled at them to keep going turned in place, skidding across the grass and opening fire with her weapon.

The Grimm were quick to fall, but their numbers were endless, and out in an open field, she was sure to be flanked. Spinning from side to side to keep her flanks clear, she quickly crept on when an armoured Beowolf came crashing through the horde, sending Grimm aside to get to her. Its bone armour was thick, and her bullets did nothing but crack and put small holes in it as Coco was thrown through the air and landed on her back. Quickly rolling onto her feet, she Hyped up her bullets again, and it staggered it a little bit, enough for Coco to rush in and swing her weapons and knock it's legs out from under it.

Before she could capitalize on her better position, it's claw wrapped around her leg and threw her against a tree, crashing through it with a cry of pain, she rolled a few times before slowly pushing herself to her feet. She could feel the strain of her Aura attempting to keep her body from falling apart, but she was dangerously low. She saw the people she was bringing all slamming their fists on the large metal doors at the end of a ramp that led into the bunker.

It was closed.

Panting, she looked back at the coming tide of Grimm and took up her position once again. She pulled the trigger and Hyped up her bullets for the large Grimm, only for her gun to start echoing out with empty clicks two seconds after firing.

Ahead of her, two more large Beowolves decked out in bone armour came to stand next to the one she had been fighting before. Tired, out of ammunition, and with her back to a closed bunker with people still crying to be let inside. There was nothing else left for her now. Looking down at her shaking hands, she gripped the strap of her weapon and snapped it back into the purse form.

She was going to die here. She knew this, she just hoped Velvet was okay. Maybe she was up there waiting for her with Yatsu and Fox already. The Grimm began to stalk towards her, wary of their prey. With a deep breath, she gripped the strap and looked up at her opponents. "I'm coming home, boys," She said to herself as she rallied the last bits of her energy and charged forward, her bag swinging in her arms as she built up momentum for one last good fight when something crashed from the sky right in front of her and sent her back from the impact alone.

Trying to peer through the smoke, Dissipate and dirt flying through the air, Coco had to put a hand out in front of her face to block the sun, even though her glasses. When the light was gone, someone was standing in the small crater. Gold flowed down their back as the heat came off their body. The two remaining Beowolves looked at each other and decided to attack, only for the person to strike out with a blazing fist and collapse one skull in a single blow. Then turning in place and launched glowing red balls that attached to the last Grimm and exploded a few seconds later, raining bone all around them.

Finally, the person looked back at her, and Coco was surprised to see who stood in front of her. "Coco!" Yang shouted as she quickly made her way to her fallen friend and help her up.

"Yang," Coco was unsteady on her legs for the moment before she caught her breath. "Hell of an entrance you made," She said with a nod.

"Well, I learned from the best," She said with a smile. Coco could not help but chuckle.

"What the hell are you doing here, not that I'm complaining, "

"We're here to help," Yang said as she looked past Coco and into the sky.

"We?" Following Yang's gaze, she saw Atlesian Bullheads descending from the sky. Some touched down and let squads of soldiers out while some just flew by and dropped heavy Paladins onto the ground before flying back towards the largest ship she had ever seen hovering just inside the city's walls. It was then Coco noticed that Yang was wearing an Atlesian over her chest.

"You're with Atlas?" Coco was quick to slap the helping hand off of her and take a few steps back from Yang.

"It's complicated, but right now, all you need to know is that Atlas surrendered and we're here to help get everyone out of here," Yang did not make a move to strike or move away. "It's time to be a Huntress again,"

Coco did not know what to believe. Looking back, she saw that people were starting to be piled into the Bullhead from the bunker while the Paladins were opening fire on swarms of Grimm that were beginning to flank their position. She watched as an Atlesian soldier with markings that gave him a higher rank rush up to them and salute Yang. "Evac-zone Green is secured, Ma'am."

"Good, keep getting people from the bunker up onto the Dreadnaught as quickly as you can. I'm going to start clearing the path for more survivors," Yang did not bother returning the salute as she turned and began to jog towards the path Coco had just come from, only to stop and turned back at them. "Oh, and she's in charge now," Yang fired her gauntlets and charged into the fray, doing exactly as she said she would do. The soldier was lost for words as he looked between Coco and where Yang had run before sighing and saluting Coco.

"Orders, Ma'am?" He asked, and Coco looked around at the force that was deployed around her and nodded.

"Set up the perimeter and don't stretch out thinly. Keep that main road clear for the coming survivors and prioritize the Paladins on the larger Grimm, the smaller ones can easily be taken out by regular anti-Grimm rounds."

The soldier snapped off another salute and began to make the commands into their comms system, and she watched as the soldiers began to secure the area. Temporary structures were erected in seconds with hard light shields to protect them from enemy projectiles. In a moment of clarity, a weight had lifted off her shoulders as she watched a Bullhead loaded with people fly off towards the Dreadnaught and to safety.

Yang was right. The war was over, it was time to be a Huntress again.

Walking over to the Paladin closest to her, she shouted up at it to get the pilot's attention. When it finally turned its massive body to face her, she raised Gianduja into the air and shook it.

"I need a reload!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go, another one down. 
> 
> It's hard to imagine that the show has been going on for so long! and that means this story has reached its fourth year! Damn, I feel old...
> 
> My wonderful editor is still out but will hopefully be back soon with a full recovery soon so everything will be much easier to read.
> 
> If you enjoyed, leave a Kudo! If you already have, leave a comment! I love reading them and I love replying to them. This story is also posted on FF.net under the same name. So if you read there as well, come show your support!
> 
> And as always, thank you for taking time out of your busy days to read my slice of madness!


	6. Once A Shadow Without Light Pt II

_**Once A Shadow Without Light  
**_ Pt. II

* * *

Blake held onto the railing above her as she looked out the open doors of the airship. It was hard not to be affected by the sight before her; the black tide of Grimm entirely consumed half the city. She could see the frontline of soldiers giving everything they could to keep them back, but more and more fronts fell and started to get flanked. Entire swaths of Grimm were being obliterated by the cannons on the Mantle of Responsibility, only to be quickly filled with more Grimm seconds later.

The gunner next to her kept his stream of bullets as the airship began it's decent near the frontline closer to the city's wall. As they got closer to the ground, Blake could see that this was probably once a park area, maybe an agricultural sector, but had quickly became filled with temporary housing with the bare minimum support. She could see people running deeper into the city as the defenders were overrun, and the creatures started running down the winding streets, hunting for the living.

An explosion stole her attention from the rising ground. It was behind the line, and she saw the familiar flames that could only belong to one person. Further on past that point, Blake saw a wall of ice grow down the street and cut off the advancing Grimm, leaving them vulnerable to the direct shots from the Dreadnaught's cannons.

Blake did not like the fact that the team was split up so quickly after they had all crossed the planet to meet up, but with so few Specialists available for this, it was the only thing they really could do. She was going to be the first one on the ground in this sector, so she needed to make sure it was clear for the rescue ships. She did not know exactly how she was going to do it, but she had her part to play, just like Yang and Weiss.

Looking back at the people in her airship with her, she saw that they were waiting on her. It was strange to her; she was in charge of these people, these Atlesian soldiers. To some of them, she was just another officer who put the chest plate on and put in charge of a random group of soldiers because their last one died. To others, she was an animal put into position because of her ties with Weiss. She could not see their faces behind their helmets, but she could feel the animosity coming from most of them. She wondered if Ruby felt this much anxiety about leading the team after initiation all those years ago.

"We need to secure the landing zone and get the barrier ready to get the survivors out safely! Groups of four need to focus fire to drop the Grimm, anything larger or with thick armour, call them out, and I'll take care of them!"

" _YES, MA'AM_ " was the chorus from all of them. She did not know if blindly following orders was the mark of a good soldier or a bad one, but she ran out of time to reflect on it. The airship landed on the ground, and everyone jumped out. The second they did, Blake was deafened by the sounds of the weapons everyone was firing. Aiming her gun, Blake quickly went from target to target, firing her Dust rounds and taking care of the enormous amount of Grimm that they were dropped in the middle of.

She was lost in the motions of rushing from target to target, a blur of fangs and claws as she leapt from one side to the other of their established zone of control. She heard someone call out her rank, and she turned in time to see a colossal ape type Grimm charging right for them. She could see her reinforcements in the air coming towards them, but then the Grimm saw it too, and pick up a car that was sitting on the side of the street and throw it right in the air.

Blake watched in horror as the car collided with one of the airships carrying a Paladin walker under it. One of the wings was torn off and was sent into a spiral that crashed into a row of the temporary houses, sending burning debris everywhere. Blake prayed that they were empty already. Jamming a finger into her ear, she activated the Comms system Atlas had in place and radioed to her coordinator. "The zone's too hot! Don't send any more reinforcements until I deal with the threat! out!" She received a simple affirmative as she charged towards the Grimm.

As she ran, it roared at her and leapt to meet her head-on. Slipping a shadow off her body, she used it to change her direction when it landed on top. Bouncing off another shadow, she sprinted right past its legs, dragging her blades across the back of its knees and heard it roar out in pain. Leaping onto it's back, she screamed in the effort as she drove Gambol Shroud deep into the Beringel's neck, making it scream even more. Before she could pull her sword back, its large hand came up to grab her.

Infusing her Semblance with Fire Dust, she slipped another shadow off and let the Grimm take her copy. Running as far as she could from it, she watched as the Dust exploded, taking the Grimm's hand and forearm in the process. Taking advantage of its pain, Blake leapt back onto its shoulders, drove the thin blade right into its eye as far as possible, and used her cleaver sheath as a hammer to push it even further.

Riding the creature as it fell onto its chest and began to dissipate, Blake caught her breath as she looked around. The soldiers she was with had cleaned the area and were keeping the Grimm at bay. The younger ones were charging forward and were obliterated by a wall of gunfire while the older ones stayed behind cover the best they could. Without any more massive Grimm coming at them, Blake radioed the all-clear and watched as the second wave of airships began to fly towards her position.

Three Paladins slammed into the ground and immediately began to fill the streets with bullets as they began to spread out. A fresh wave of soldiers came in and began to set up hard light barricades and a landing platform for the airships to land to carry survivors away. Everything had been set up in a matter of seconds; Blake could hardly believe it. Picking her weapon up off the ground once the Grimm had dissipated entirely, she approached the sergeant who shouted orders to everyone else.

"Start clearing the immediate buildings; I'm going deeper to start bringing survivors,"

"Yes, Ma'am, you heard the Specialist! Clear these buildings! Third squad! Fifth squad! Get you asses moving!"

A chorus of 'yes sir' was heard as people rushed forward to help those who needed it. With everything settled, Blake turned and began to run down the street with another squad in tow to help her escort as many people as possible. It did not take long for their team to engaging with Grimm, but they were quick to focus fire while Blake dashed forward with her blades. They needed to be as fast as possible; the bombardment could only thin out so many Grimm before the people inside the city would be overrun.

Then the walls that were supposed to protect the people would only trap them.

They were quick to enter buildings and began shouting. Blake had to break doors down and carry children back to the checkpoint. She noticed that most of the people that lived in this area were Vacuo refugees and Faunus minorities. Right now, Blake was much more grateful for being a Faunus. Atlas was known for its prejudice against the Faunus, so her having her ears out opening made people much more willing to go with her to safety.

Building by building, they escorted as many people as they could back to the safety zone, but with each group they took back, it was getting harder to make sure everyone was safe. The horde of Grimm was getting closer, and the concentration of the creatures was getting thicker. Blake watched in horror as entire buildings were consumed by the Grimm, she could hear the screams of the innocent mixed in with horrid cries of mindless beasts. Only for it all to be silenced when one of the soldiers threw a grenade into the building, making it a target for the Mantle of Responsiblite's cannons.

Time was running out, and she needed to save more.

Rushing into another poorly built apartment building, she could hear screaming coming from the hallways above her. Leaping up the stairs, she saw smaller Beowovles crashing through doors, and Blake charged into action. Screaming to get their attention, she slid under the first and second legs before leaping into the face of the third one, leaving a shadow made of stone to land on top of it.

Using the walls to her advantage, Blake kept moving out of range of their claws as they tried to bring her down. What she wouldn't give to have one of Weiss's time dilation glyphs right now, but she had to make do with herself since the hallway was too enclosed for the soldiers to open fire with her in the middle of it. Using the cleaver to break through defences and the razor-sharp katana, Blake made quick work of the Grimm, but she could still hear more coming up the stairs ahead of them.

"Start clearing out the upper floors!" Blake shouted as they headed towards the stairwell. She watched as three soldiers charged towards the stairs and aim their weapons down. Their features lit up by the muzzle flashes of their rifles before tentacles wrapped around their necks and began to pull them down towards the horde below. Before she could help any of them, the last one fought against the Grimm long enough to grab all the grenades on his vest and pull the pins before he was dragged down to the floor below. The explosions were followed by a deafening silence as Blake stared, trying to comprehend what she just witnessed.

A cry stole her attention from a broken door next to her. Looking inside, she saw a child, no older than seven, screaming and shaking man that was sitting against the wall. Half his chest was covered in blood, and his arm was missing. He talked to the child that clung to his bloody shirt, but she just continued to cry.

"DADDY!" Her broken voice chilled Blake to the core as she took deep breaths and kept trying. A roar came from the stairwell, and Black needed to get her out now. Running inside, Blake and the man connected eyes, and she could see the begging in his eyes.

"Please, my baby girl…" From how weak his voice was, Blake could only guess he had a few seconds left. She could not trust her own voice, so she scooped the child up, but she refused to let him go.

"NO! DON'T LEAVE MY DADDY! DADDY, HELP!"

"It's okay, baby girl. I'll be fine, go with the nice lady, she'll keep you safe…" he just gave his daughter a smile when Blake managed to pry the child's hands off the bloody shirt and was about to run out when something caught her eye.

A single framed picture of the child and the man. Both were smiling as they sat in a small plastic pool. A split second passed, and Blake grabbed the picture and ran down the hall, urging everyone in it to hurry out. The child in her arms still struggling to return to a dead body as they all converged in the street. She looked around, and there were maybe fifty people they saved from that building. All of them looked scared and looked at her.

"Keep moving, we're bringing you to safety!" She shouted as the soldiers all began to move down the street back towards the checkpoint. They all ran as quickly as they could with whatever they could grab quickly. The child in her arms continued to cry out for their father to save them from Blake, but there was nothing she could do to calm them. Maybe in the future, she will understand why Blake did what she had to do.

The whole group managed to get past the Paladin as it opened fire past them to whatever horde followed the concentration of negative emotion she was guarding. Luckily for her, there was already an Airship waiting for them to leave. Everyone pilled on, and Blake handed the child off to someone onboard. Before it could lift off, Blake pressed the picture frame into the child's hands and forced them to hold it. "Remember him," Was all she could say before the airship began to lift into the sky. She watched as the airship turned and headed straight for the Dreadnought in the air and felt like she finally took a breath.

" _Specialist Belladonna, come in,_ " Came the voice of the woman who was overseeing her portion of the city.

"I read you, over,"

" _We're seeing a group of people out in the street near your location getting surrounded by Grimm. Someone's there protecting them, but it's not looking pretty, Over._ "

"Understood, where are they? Over,"

" _South by southwest. Best be fast, Specialist, retrieval protocols are executing soon, out._ "

Blake brought her hand down from her ear and looked in the direction she needed to go. The retrieval protocol was their exit strategy from the city, and it involved a lot of fire. She needed to hurry if she was going to save those people. Knowing she was going to be faster on her own, Blake told the squad she was with to start securing the street they will be using to get back, and she took the rooftops to the location.

From above it all, she saw the carnage that ravaged the city. Everything from a certain point was utterly destroyed by the Grimm and bombardment fire from above. She could track the horde's path, and she quickened her pace across the rooftops and willed the people to still be alive.

Jumping from the last rooftop, she caught a glimpse of the still alive people and the one protecting them. Staff in hand and a tail holding a baby from the snapping jaws of a Grimm. Landing next to the man, she drove her sword through the Grimm's head and let it dissipate before looking at the man she just saved.

Sun just stared at her with his mouth agape as he stood up straight. "Blake…" He finally said as she walked past him.

"We can talk later, right now, we need to save these people,"

"Yes, ma'am," He said quickly as he kept the baby in his tail and walked up to her. Blake rolled her eyes as she looked around to make sure the coast was clear. "Where are we going?"

"We've got a checkpoint nearby that's ferrying people up to the Dreadnought. We need to hurry though, we're getting ready to pull out soon."

"But, the people…"

"I know, but we saved as many people as we could. We can't risk the lives we've already saved for the ones we can't save…" Blake hated the words that came out of her mouth, but they were true none the less.

Like pulling a child from a dying man so she could live.

"This way," Blake said as she, Sun and the few people they were with began to run down the streets, shooting any Grimm that dared to show their fangs. Above them, Blake heard the cannons firing at whatever was behind them and the Grimm's screams that were chasing them. Picking up speed, they rounded the corner and began to sprint towards the checkpoint.

The Paladins were already starting to bunch up, preparing to be lifted back up to the Dreadnaught when she saw already halfway towards it. Above them, she saw a streak of fire fly and landed right on one of the Paladins. She watched as the flame splattered across the metal and began to eat away at the material, causing it to fall over and melt.

Looking back, she saw a Grimm she had only seen in textbooks crawling towards them. Like a massive centipede with a bloated body, large, toothy mouth with melting plasma dripping from its mouth. Seeing the monster, the remaining Paladins turned and began to open fire on it, stopping it from getting any closer while Blake and Sun gathered everyone who was left on the landing pad to get on the next ship.

Blake could do nothing as the plasma melted through the other Paladins like they were made of butter. The people behind her cried out in fear as Blake desperately tried to think of anything to protect them from the next launch of plasma when it was hurled at them. Blake could do nothing but close her eyes and wait, but as the seconds stretched on, nothing happened. Taking the risk of opening her eyes, she saw a single figure standing in front of them.

Neo stood with her back to the Grimm, umbrella opened, and the ground behind her completely melted. Just what was that umbrella made of? Before Blake could say anything to Neo, she took a deep breath and focused her attention on the ship in the air. The next second, her vision was filled with shattering glass as the ground broke under them, and she found herself on the airship they were just under. The familiar sensation of nausea filled her stomach, but she managed to keep it down, the same could not be said for half of the people Neo just teleported up to the ship, including the baby Sun hand in his tail.

Looking back at Neo, she saw her on her knees and having trouble breathing. Quickly rushing to her side, she saw that her colour had paled, and she struggled to stop shaking. Did she teleport too many people? Overuse her semblance? There was nothing Blake could do other than rub her back as her colour began to fill back in. After she caught her breath, Neo stood back up and nodded to Blake.

"Thanks, where's Yang?" Blake asked, only for Neo to point at another airship in the air, where Blake saw the familiar blonde hair unrestrained in the wind. A tightness in her heart lessened at the sight of Yang in another airship, the same for Weiss, when she saw the woman flying on her own glyph with people sitting at her feet as they all made their way back to the Mantle of Responsibility.

With a wink and a smile, Neo shattered into glass and disappeared from Blake. She had no idea where she was going, but Blake was just happy she was alright. Dragging her feet to where Sun had sat down, she sat down next to him and rested her head against the cold metal behind her. The two Faunus just took deep breaths, trying to will the adrenaline from making their bodies shake. After a few minutes, Sun finally broke the silence.

"Good to see you again, Blake,"

"You too, Sun… You too…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another apology for the wait but I've been dealing with a number of things as of late so I can only write when I get the chance. 
> 
> Thank you so much for understanding and I hope everyone is doing well and is staying healthy out there right now. I know I'm not kind to my characters but we all need to be kind to each other!
> 
> StreetAngelJ is still out with his surgery but is making a speedy recovery and hopefully will be back to editing my garbage soon!
> 
> If you enjoyed, leave a Kudo! If you already have, leave a comment! I love reading them and I love replying to them. This story is also posted on FF.net under the same name. So if you read there as well, come show your support! I also have a tumblr: AngryFaceWritings come say hi!
> 
> And as always, thank you for taking time out of your busy days to read my slice of madness!


	7. A Once Pure Snowfall  Pt.II

**_A Once Pure Snowfall_ **

_Pt.II_

* * *

Everyone had their objectives.

Yang was to deploy in the city's central area and start herding people to the park's evacuation points and spread out to clear as many buildings as they could. Blake was to go to the temporary housing district to organize the people there and set up pick up locations for that area. Weiss, however, was tasked with heading off the Grimm advance and slow it down.

The best way the Specialist could do that was to deploy in the middle of them.

Weiss felt the Shock Trooper drop pod's weightlessness as it reached maximum height from being shot out from the Mantle of Responsibility. She was in charge of eight Shock Troopers, and all were in the air with her. She knew none of them, but she could not bring her friends with her on this mission. Partly because they did not go through the Shock Trooper training she had but mostly because there was a fifteen percent chance of failure in the air.

The sensation of zero gravity ended, and she plummeted towards the city below. In front of her was a reinforced window to see her landing zone. Around her were the other pods that her team was deployed in. Over the communications network, some of her squad cried out in laughter, others sang songs of their unit. One screamed as his pod struck a flying Grimm as it passed, engulfing both in the fire as they fell to the ground.

Weiss braced herself for the hard landing as the airbrakes were deployed and slowed her descent down just enough to not kill her on contact. She counted down the seconds in her head until she hit zero and felt her whole body be thrown against the restraints holding her in place. A second passed, and then the door was blasted open, and Weiss removed herself from the constraints and immediately took action.

Waving of her rapier, a sheet of ice spread across the street under the unrelenting horde of creatures. With a flick of her other hand, spikes formed and shot up from the ice, impaling every Grimm on the street and blanketing it in Dissipate. Spinning around, she did the same thing down the other road, giving herself space to breathe as she helped the squad she was given and open the area up for the extraction teams.

Weiss ran down the city streets, her blade swinging around as she summoned glyphs to burn and freeze the Grimm in front of her. Behind her, squads of soldiers lined up and opened fire into the horde, bringing them down under a hail of bullets and cannon fire. The Grimm's advance was covered in Dissipate as more and more Grimm were killed.

Weiss did not dare to take her eyes off the advancing creatures. Even as reinforcements continued to be deployed behind her. The heavy walking of Paladin Mechs came closer as the stream of fire intensified. She thought it was going well until three figures came shooting from the smoke towards them. Spinning towards them, Weiss saw bullets bounce harmlessly off their bone armour as they rolled through the lines of soldiers, crushing under their weight or slicing them off the scales. One of them managed to roll over a Paladin, pinning it to the ground.

When they folded out, Weiss saw how big they truly were. Covered from snout to tail in thick bone scales, four paws each tipped with razor-sharp claws that carved away at the ground under them. The elongated nose held rows of sharp teeth, and beady red eyes stared down at Weiss. Without batting an eye, she charged forward while summoning a trio of glyphs around her.

Fire shot out of the glyphs and forced the Pangolin Grimm to curl up from the heat as Weiss launched into the air with her Glyph. With the plan in place, she landed on a floating platform of her making and summoned a gravity one under the Grimm. It began to gently float up into the sky after a moment, giving the Paladin's a target for its soft underbelly.

Weiss watched as the Grimm was eviscerated before her eyes, leaving nothing but chunks of flesh that slowly turned into Dissipate while two more Paladins charged forward to take care of one of the two remaining Grimm. The first one sped ahead and caught the Grimm's arms as it tried to leap at the machine. The second sped up and took position right under the first, unloading enough ballistics to tear it in half. Discarding the carcass, the two Paladins resumed dealing with the smaller Grimm while Weiss went towards the final Pangolin Grimm.

It was rampaging across the lines of soldiers, leaving scarred ground in its wake as it chased the soldiers around. Weiss waiting for her chance to strike as she adjusted the Glyph she stood on and flew towards it. She watched as it opened its mouth, and at that moment, she changed her platform into a time dilation and trapped the Grimm in a dome of her making. Bouncing from Glyph to Glyph, she made strikes against its exposed parts until finally went straight up, driving her blade through its jaw and into its brain.

Jumping back, the Grimm fell onto its side and began to smoke, its flesh slowly fading away into nothingness as the soldiers behind her finished setting up the temporary landing platform. Another wave of soldiers jumped out of the Bullhead and took up positions as other specialists began to spread out and look for survivors to bring back. Recalling her squad, Weiss picked a direction that no one else was going and heading down the street.

They quickly checked as many buildings as they could with minimal success. The best they could find was a few chewed and slashed bodies on the street, all heading in the same direction; each had small cases or bags filled with clothing, probably an emergency bag if Weiss had to guess. Weiss followed the path of dead bodies with no other ideas while clearing the Grimm with her squad.

The bodies' trail leads them to a large ramp that led down and ended in a set of massive metal doors inset in a wall. Clawing at the base of the door was a large group of Grimm, all trying to open it. The door itself was covered in glowing Sulfur Fish. Their tails all working together to melt the metal that protected whoever was inside of it. A large glob of superheated metal splattered on the ground, and a hail of bullets came out of the opening. The Sulfur Fish continued to make the hole bigger, allowing the broader Grimm access to the people inside.

With a motion, Weiss's squad opened fire into the horde, causing the Grimm in the back to turn and charge towards them while others struggled to get into the opening, fighting with each other, the bullets coming from within and the molten metal that surrounded it. The soldiers continued to gun down the Grimm, their specialized shots and confusion making quick work of them, leaving Weiss to deal with the older or specialized Grimm.

Weiss kept the Sulfer Fish in her sight as she ducked and jumped around the Grimm. The opening was getting bigger and bigger by the second. Quickly heading towards the ground and allowing the bigger Grimm into the shelter. Fighting harder, Weiss ducked under a claw and thrust upwards, killing a Beowolf and launching herself up into the air, where she summoned her glyphs and rained down with icicle shards.

The whole area was filled with the oily black smoke and the chill of her ice. She could still see the glow of the Sulfer Fish on the door, but now she had a clear shot at them. Spinning the revolving chambers, Weiss summoned a series of Glyphs that allowed her to leap up to the highest Grimm on the door and run it through with her blade. It's scream hurt her ears as she already moved on the next one on the door. One after another, the Sulfer Fish fell to the ground and thrashed in pain before becoming nothing but dissipate.

On the ground, Weiss saw all the other Grimm had been dealt with by her squad. Two were being patched up by the medic while the others secured the area, making sure nothing crept upon them while herding the survivors. Lowering herself to the ground, Weiss made a large ice ramp leading up to it so two of the shock troopers could go with her to help people through the hole. Reaching the gap, however, Weiss was immediately hit by someone inside firing through the hole.

Weiss cried out in pain as the bullet hit her Aura and fell to the ground. Her arm felt numb as she fell to the ground, and the two soldiers that were with her took positions on either side of the hole and stayed out of harm's way. Weiss knew anti-Grimm rounds were big, but she never thought she would be on the other end of one. "Hold your fire!" Weiss shouted as she pushed herself back onto her feet, summoned a defensive Glyph and tried to enter again.

More bullets bounced off her Glyph as shouting could be heard coming from the inside.

"My name is Weiss Schnee of the Atlesian Military! We're here to take you to safety!" Weiss shouted to the people inside.

"The hell you are, Atlesian!" came a reply from inside. Weiss knew it might have taken some to convince them to leave with her. Using a second Glyph, she and the other two troopers she had with her stepped onto it and lowered themselves to the floor so they can speak reasonably.

Inside the well-lit room, Weiss saw a mass of people all huddled in the back; small cots were stacked on top of each other as a makeshift barricade where a line of soldiers all held their weapons trained at Weiss. Still holding the barrier up, Weiss stood in front of them and looked around at everyone around her.

"General Ironwood as given his unconditional surrender! The war is over!" Weiss called out to them. "We are here on a strictly humanitarian effort to save everyone here! We have airships standing by to bring you all up to the Dreadnaught and keep you safe!"

"Where would you take us?" Someone called out to her.

"To Atlas, the last safe kingdom on Remnant,"

"Oh, that's just peachy," someone called out as they stood up. The first thing Weiss noticed was that the man was wearing the Vacuo colours of desert tan and pale purple. In his hands was an assault rifle that was trained on her. Weiss felt that her chances of convincing them to come with them just went down. She still remembered what she did to Vacuo during the opening moments of the war. "Atlas is offering protection to everyone they haven't killed as long as they serve Atlas, convenient."

"This isn't a move to control everything; someone else was pulling strings the whole time! The attack on Atlas that started this whole thing was orchestrated by the White Fang posing as Mistrali forces. Then those same people inside of the Atlesian command painted those targets in Mistral and Vacuo! We're on the same side now,"

"Oh, really?" He asked as he jumped over the barricade and walked right up towards her. The soldiers he was with followed him; they all wore the Vacuoan colours on their uniforms. "If we're all on the same side, why is my home still flattened?" He asked dangerously.

"If you don't want to come with, then piss off and-" the stormtrooper to her left began to walk towards the Vacuoan, but Weiss was quick to turn on him.

"Shut up!" Weiss turned back to the soldier. "Atlas as given their full, unconditional surrender. You will have full support on whoever speaks for you to demand anything you want when you arrive at Atlas," to convince him further, she lowered the protective Glyph between them, only for him to raise his rifle and aim it directly at her face. Her soldiers retaliated by aiming their rifles at him, then the others pointed their rifles at the stormtroopers.

"I want my son back," He told her as she saw his finger slide along the trigger of his weapon.

"Tough shit bitch," The same stormtrooper said as he leaned in with his rifle.

Weiss had enough of this; with a gesture of her hand, she sent the one stormtrooper flying back against the wall, "Stand down," she ordered, and the other stormtrooper lowered his rifle and went back to make sure his squadmate was okay. Looking back at the man in front of her, she felt a strange sense of calm staring down the barrel of the rifle, the scent of fire dust and gunpowder coming from the barrel. "I am truly sorry about your son, but killing me and dooming every single person behind you will not bring him back."

They stared at each other for a few seconds. Weiss could see the anger in his eyes for a sin committed against him. Behind her, she heard a shout from the hole in the large steel doors. "The Grimm are pushing in, and Recovery protocols are being engaged in six minutes!"

The woman to the man's right lowered her rifle and placed a hand on his shoulder. "She's right, Midori," She said. "We don't have the supplies needed to keep these people safe, and with that hole in the door, we're all as good as dead,"

"As much as I hate it," Said a woman with a shaved head, holding a large machine gun, "She's right; the only way to save these people is to go to Atlas,"

Weiss saw the fight inside of him as he weighed his options, a terrible shriek came from the outside, and the man, Midori, grit his teeth before pulling his weapon away from her. "Damn it all," The others lowered their guns and looked back to the people and began to organize them in some semblance of order. Weiss summoned another ramp of ice and made sure to texture it so no one would slip as they were herded outside.

Outside, Weiss saw most of the city was on fire; the Mantle of Responsibility's cannons was getting closer towards them when one of the stormtroopers pulled out a green smoke grenade and marked their location for pick up. Within seconds, three bullheads sped in and landed with two Paladins and a squad of Atlesians to deploy and people to get loaded. They prioritized the injured and children when the Paladins both turned and began to open fire down the street into the encroaching horde.

"Oh, not these assholes again," someone behind her said when Weiss saw the scuttling wave of the Spider Grimm from Ritrr start moving towards them. A firing line was quickly put into position as civilians' screaming only doubled every Grimm's focus around them. Bullheads, filled to the brim, were being flown into the air as the remaining survivors all clung to each other, making it as easy as possible for the soldiers to protect them.

Weiss could hear nothing as her hearing went out again. The high pitched screaming in her ear, drowned every bullet and scream as the line got closer and closer. Reaching into her pouch, Weiss pulled out a refill of her ice dust and slipping it into place before erecting a massive ice wall that grew across the street and past it. She chewed on her lip as she watched Grimm scratch at her wall.

The seconds felt like hours as Bullhead after Bullhead carried survivors to safety with only the occasional Grimm that clawed its way over or around the wall until one of the Paladins turned and opened fire into the other mech. Weiss watched in silent horror as everyone began to scatter and fire on the armoured unit until it turned to face them; on the front, she saw the mask of a Geist.

A Grimm was now in control of one of the most advanced military tech Atlas had to offer.

Weiss saw that the last Bullhead was still on the ground. With a quick look back, she could see soldiers waved their arms for them to get on, but Weiss knew if no one stayed to stop that possessed Paladin, they would all be blown out of the air. Jabbing her finger to her ear, Weiss screamed to the pilot.

"Get that Bullhead out of here now! We'll take care of the Paladin!" She saw the cockpit pilot give a quick salute and lifted up into the air, leaving herself, half the stormtroopers and the Vacuoan soldiers to defend them from the Paladin. Without Aura, Weiss knew the regular soldiers would have nothing to protect them from the Paladin's weapon systems, that much Weiss witness as its chaingun ripped through the regular Atlesian soldiers like paper.

The Grimm began to make their way around the wall, and Weiss knew they had very little time left. Taking a deep breath, she focused on her summon and hoped nothing would interrupt her until her Knight was here. From above her, she saw him pull himself into their reality and stood before her. He towered over them and charged straight for the Paladin. Even with the Grimm firing everything it had at it, her Knight kept charging forward with its sword, cleaving off one of its arms, causing the munitions stored inside to explode, opening the wall to the swarm.

"Everyone get to me!" Weiss shouted as she spun her weapon and took another deep breath. She needed to concentrate if she was going to save everyone around her. Focusing on a large Glyph that spun out around her feet, everyone stumbled as she lifted it up with everyone standing on it. A few of them slipped and fell down onto the Dust fuelled platform, causing Weiss to focus on the careful balancing, so no one falls off from the hight.

Below them, Weiss watched as her Knight ran its sword through the Paladin to pin it to the ground. Reaching with its open hand, it ripped the Geist out of the war machine by its mask, only for its head to be crushed when the Knight crushed it in its hand. The victory was short-lived when the horde latched onto her Knight, dragging it to the ground and tearing it apart before it completely dissolved in white dissipate.

All around them, the city was quickly falling apart; the constant shelling from the Dreadnaught above them levelled half the city, with the other half completely drowning in Grimm.

Around them, Weiss saw the sky was filled with Bullheads all heading towards the Mantle of Responsibility, one of them had Yang's wild golden mane flying in the wind as she hung out the door to watched the chaos around them. She knew there were so many more people that needed to be saved down there, but they were so few, and the hordes of Grimm were endless. She did not envy General Ironwoods' command to decide where the line was to call for the retreat.

The soldiers all looked back at the city behind her; all Weiss could do is look forward and protect the ones she can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im sure it goes without saying, but I'm sorry for having such a large gap between chapters. 
> 
> Life hasn't been kind to me as of late.
> 
> I can't promise regular updates but I can promise that I have not given up on this series. 
> 
> For those who have stuck around for me, thank you so much for your patience and support of this series. I can't wait to see what Vol 8 has in store for us but I can't wait to implement whatever I can.
> 
> If you enjoyed, leave a Kudo! If you already have, leave a comment! I love reading them and I love replying to them. This story is also posted on FF.net under the same name. So if you read there as well, come show your support!
> 
> And as always, thank you for taking time out of your busy days to read my slice of madness!


	8. A Once Inferno Smothered To Embers  Pt. II

**_A Once Inferno Smothered To Embers_ **

_Pt. II_

* * *

People were running everywhere. The Grimm were closing in, and their hungry screams were filling the air. Above them, a guiding light came crashing down and turned a Grimm into smoke as she landed. The ground shook with her purpose; the weight of her fire forced the last visages of the nightmare to scatter in fear as her fist sent explosives out and bright her flames down onto the creatures around her.

From the ground, a child looked up and saw an angel, wreathed in divine flames.

Yang only saw people that needed help.

"Get to the park at the end of the street! Some airships will take you to safety!" Yang pointed in the direction she had just come from, and everyone turned and ran at her order. She knew the military would be right behind her, keeping the path clear for any wandering Grimm to be attracted to the survivors.

Looking up, Yang saw aerial Grimm in fierce combat with the fighter ships the Dreadnaught was deploying. She needed to be thankful for those pilots; so many more people would have been killed without them. Another group of terrified people came out of a building, and Yang directed them to the same place she had been sending everyone else before more Grimm came for their fear.

Pressing her finger to her ear, she activated the comms unit she had been given to talk to whoever was in charge of their area. "Specialist Xiao Long to Command," The stretch of silence made her wonder if something had gone wrong, but a voice finally came in through her earpiece.

_"We read you, Xiao Long, over,"_

"I've cleared this street of survivors; where is the next large concentration of Grimm nearby? Over"

 _"Standby, over."_ That was the only response she got. Yang began to head towards an alleyway to get ready to run but stopped by what she found. The whole alleyway was covered in blood and bits of what used to be a person. Further inspection showed that whoever this was probably lived behind the dumpster. They were one of the first ones to die when everything went down. Nowhere to hide and the fear of it all making any Grimm hone in on them.

 _"There is a large concentration of Grimm outside of an apartment building not too far from you, Specialist"_ The man in her ear pulled her attention back to the matter at hand. _"Local Militia are keeping them at bay, but there is another wave coming from the north; some of those Grimm look pretty big, over,"_

"Thanks, Xiao long out," Yang switched her channel to the squad she had been feeding with people and told them the plan. Pushing past the horror scene in the alleyway, she ran down the streets and quickly found the apartment building that he mentioned.

The front was completely blocked with Grimm. Some were scaling the walls, trying to get in from the windows, and she could hear a steady stream of rifle fire coming from the inside, keeping them safe for the moment. Yang knew their ammunition would end quickly, so she charged into the fray.

Launching herself into the air, Yang slammed down onto the ground, knocking back the Grimm and give her space to start swinging. The shells in her gauntlets rang out as she tore through their ranks, using the smoky decay of Grimm as cover. She was surprised at how easily the dark creatures' flesh fell apart under her attack; they must have been relatively new for their hide and armour to be so thin.

From behind, Yang was reminded that even newborn Grimm claws are still as sharp as razors. She cried out in pain as something leapt onto her back and began to scratch at her Aura. Manic shrieking in her ear was deafening; Yang struggled to get ahold of the little shit that latched onto her while a Beowolf charged at her. Yang was tackled and pinned against the wall with her attention divided as something began to slide around her neck, cutting off her air.

The heat of her Semblance was reaching a boiling point. Digging her fingers between what was choking her and her skin, she yanked hard and pulled the small monkey-like Grimm from her shoulder and slammed it onto the ground, where she heard its bones break and began to fade away. The Beowolf pinning her swung its head around and bit down on her metal arm, trying to rip it off.

Yang could feel the connections holding it in place, but it was not going to last long. Inside its mouth, Yang flicked her wrist and shot two explosive shells down its throat. "How's that taste?" She shouted as the Grimm was torn from the inside out, freeing her from its pin. "How else wants a bite?" she challenged as her Semblance flooded through her veins and eviscerated Grimm left and right. Her hair flowed like flames as she was lost in the storm of Dissipate. Her own screams of war are lost in the chorus of Grimm around her.

In the air above her, flying Grimm were beginning to take notice of her. Their cries were the only warning Yang had that they were coming. Dodging out of the way of the first few, she then began to unload all of her shells into the air and those who were climbing the walls, making quick work of the flyer's thin wings and hollow bones and dropping the climbing creatures to the ground until Ember Celica clicked empty.

Spinning around, she watched a Boarbatusk sprint towards her. Holding her ground, Yang gripped the elongated tusks of the Grimm and stopped it in its tracks before stomping down on its head and pulling as hard as she could. She ignored its screams of pain as she ripped the bone from its home and used her new makeshift weapons to impale two more creatures coming towards her.

With one more stomp, she ended the Boarbatusk and threw the tusks at a pair of flying Griffon that came too close to the ground. When she spun around one more time, Yang was expecting another Grimm trying to get at her, but she saw that the street was finally cleared, and she finally took a breath. Clicking her weapons open, the spent shells ejected onto the ground as Yang wrapped fresh shell belts into their homes while making her way to the entrance.

Looking through the large, broken windows into the lobby, she saw maybe fifty people being protected by only a few soldiers with weapons. All things considered, they did a great job with what they had to work with. Before she could speak, one of the soldiers fired a round at her but wildly missing.

"Hey! I'm on your side, Asshole!" Yang yelled out at him.

"But you're Atlesian!"

"I just saved your ass! The war is over; we're here to save you!" Yang hurdled over the large windowsill and walked towards them. Before the idiot could say anything else, the guy Yang assumed was in charge slapped the idiot's rifle down and stood up straight to talk to her.

"Sorry, it's been a long day," He began. "Thank you, Miss. You said the war is over?"

"Yeah, General Ironwood came here to give his surrender, but we need to evacuate the city now. There's an evac point in the main park, but I can't cover all of you," Yang reached into her pouch and pulled out a grenade. Pulling the pin and give it a few shakes before throwing it out onto the street, where it began to plume green smoke. "A ship will be here soon to get you all out and onto the Dreadnaught where it's safe,"

The look of relief on their faces was something that made everything worth it. With all the killing and the bloodshed, helping people, actually being a Huntress, giving hope to the hopeless, gave Yang something she had been missing for a long while.

It only took a few minutes for a Bullhead to land on the street, and Yang made sure everyone got onboard. As she watched a young girl and their mother get loaded on, she overheard what they were saying.

"But what about the nice man? He isn't here…"

"I know, honey, but we can't wait and find him,"

"Someone missing?" Yang walked up to them. "There's still someone inside?"

"The nice man!" The girl said again. "He gives me pretty flowers on the roof!" Yang could not find whoever that was based on that alone. Luckily, her mother understood what she needed.

"He lives on floor twelve, room twelve-o-six, I think," With a nod, Yang told the pilot to take off once everyone was on board and not to wait for her.

Walking back into the apartment building, Yang pressed the call button on the elevator and sighed when she did not see the button light up. Yang sighed, knowing it would be too good to be true, as she made her way to the stairs and began to take them two at a time. At least the trip down would be easier than up.

Finally, she reached the twelfth floor and took a moment to catch her breath before opening the door and walking down the hallway. The emergency lights were on, bathing everything in a grimy, orange glow. Yang passed the open doors and arrived at the only closed door on the floor. She hit the door with her fist and called out, waiting for whoever was inside to open it, but it did not. "Oh, come on, dude…" Yang sighed as she slammed her fist against the door harder, only to give up on patience and kicked it open. Even if it was empty, it was better to make sure than to miss someone to save.

The short hallway that leads into the apartment proper was barren of coats or shoes, but as soon as she walked past it, she had to quickly jump back as bullets whizzed past her again. "For fucks sake! I'm here to help!" Yang shouted. She was getting really tired of being shot at.

"Yang?" A voice said after a beat. Yang knew that voice; it pulled back memories of a much better time. Turning the corner again, she was met with a man she had not seen since the Fall of Beacon.

Lie Ren sat in a wheelchair, Storm Flower aimed right at her before it was lowered from her. Yang just stared at her friend; It had been so long, he almost looked like a different person. A green silk gown covered his legs with his hair out of the long ponytail she last saw him in. Rushing forward, Yang fell to her knees so she could embrace her friend properly for the first time in so long. Her eyes burned as she tucked his head into her shoulder. His weapon clattered to the floor as he did the same to her.

Knowing they had to leave as soon as possible, Yang was the first to pull away and take a better look at him. "What the hell happened to you?" She asked, wiping tears from her eyes. His smile turned down for a moment before shaking his head.

"It's a long story; where's Nora? Did she send you?" he asked, looking back at the door.

"Nora? No, I haven't seen either of you since the Fall." Yang said as she stood up. "I'm sure she's somewhere, though; she's a tough one. We can find her later, though. I need to get you somewhere safe."

"Right," It broke Yang's heart to see him so downcast, but she needed to get him out first.

"Come on, let's go," Yang said as she picked up his weapon and gave it back to him. "But the elevator is down, so we need to take the stairs," He nodded, and they managed to get him onto her back. With a sash he had, they tied his legs around her waist, and Yang could feel just how far his legs had atrophied, nothing but skin stretched over bone. Getting him into a comfortable position on her back, the two went back down the stair and down twelve stories back to the ground floor.

Kicking open the door, Yang began to jog back to the central park to her checkpoint when the ground started to shake around them. Looking up, Yang watched as an entire building was uprooted, falling right on top of her route to the checkpoint. The ground under the building erupted, and a giant BlindWorm came out of the land, screaming as it surfaced.

From the opening, more Gimm began to pour out onto the city streets and Yang could do nothing but prepare for another battle. She heard Ren call her name, and she turned around to see the large Grimm that Command had warned her about coming straight toward her. Large Goliaths and a swarm of spider-like Grimm filling the street like a sea of death. Yang chambered a shell with no escape and got ready to fight as hard as she could when Ren touched her shoulder and told her to wait.

She felt her anger and anxiety melt as Ren activated his Semblance and hid them from the Grimm. Yang watched as the swarm of Spider Grimm caught up to them and scuttled past them like they were not there. If she could be scared, she would be terrified. "Just be quiet and walk quickly," Ren said, and Yang nodded. It was harder than she thought to dodge the Grimm as they charged back and forth around her.

Making her down an alley, she calmly moved past the smaller scavenger Grimm that took on the form of rats the size of small dogs, all sniffing out for anyone who was missed. Carefully, she stepped around anything that would make a noise as she moved down the narrow alley. Yang held her breath as the pack of rats scurried around the dirty floor, squeaking at each other and fighting over scraps of flesh. "We're almost there, Yang," Ren whispered to her. She could hear the strain on his voice as he focused on his Semblance.

Closer and closer, they made it to the opening of the alleyway. Step by step, Yang kept a careful eye on where her feet were going. A trash can was knocked over with a loud crash in front of her, and every rat came over to investigate. Standing still, she watched the rats stream past her legs and tore open every bag and inside the can itself, trying to find anything before scattering again. She watched in horror as they all tore apart a raccoon that was hiding inside in seconds, then sniffed the air and resumed their search.

A thud echoed next to her, and she spun and saw the pack leader landing on the bin next to her. It stood on his back legs and stared at her in the eye while sniffing the air. It was twice as large as any of the other pack of rats around her, and it stared past Yang, searching for their next meal. Slowly, Yang backed up a step at a time to get as much space between the pack leader and her without taking her eyes off it, until she felt something squish under her boot as a rat screeched in pain.

"Shit!" Yang shouted as she turned and sprinted as fast as she could as the swarm all converged on her. Ren's emotional suppression did nothing to stop them from giving chase with all the noise she was making. "Ren! I need help!" She shouted as she kept the pace. She felt her emotions come rushing back as Ren dropped his Semblance and open fire behind her, shooting at the pack rats behind them.

Her legs lungs burned as her legs continued to push them as fast as she could go towards the checkpoint. The ground around her began to erupt with smaller centipede Grimm, Centinels, crawling out of the road. The main Grimm horde was closing around them, buildings crumbled around them as Grimm came out of their tunnels, and the Dreadnaught started using heavier ordnance to exterminate them.

Turning a corner, she finally saw the park checkpoint with the last Bullhead waiting for them. Standing at the open door, Coco was unloading her minigun at everything that even thought about getting close to them. She could hear the other woman shouting at them to hurry up as the Bullhead began to get ready to lift off. Digging deep, Yang managed to speed up just enough to stay out of reach of Grimm as she trusted Coco not to hit them with her hail of bullets.

At the last moment, Yang leapt into the Bullhead and slammed her fist on the ground as hard as she could, hoping the pilot would get the message. Through the open door across from her, she saw the ground quickly disappear under them, and the sky became the only thing she saw. Taking a moment to just lay on the floor with Ren on her back, she caught her breath and felt her muscles scream at her to just lay there. "You okay, Yang?" Ren asked behind her.

"Yep, just let me catch my breath…" Yang said as she slowly rolled onto her side and untie the sash that kept Ren attached to her. With Coco's help, she and Yang managed to sit him against the wall and secure him in place.

"You sure cut it close, Xiao Long," Coco said with a smirk.

"Well, you know me, gotta make an entrance," Yang said, catching her breath. Making her way to the open door, Yang held onto the railing and looked over at the city she was leaving behind, her hair blowing past her as the refreshing blast of air chilled the sweat on the back of her neck. In the sky, she saw other Bullheads all heading for the _Mantle of Responsibility_ , all filled with their precious cargo, as well as Weiss just flying on her own Glyph with a few people around her feet.

The city below them was enveloped in Grimm and cannon fire as everyone was pulling out. Yang was not sure how many they saved, but she did know that many more were still dead on the streets below.

The sound of glass shattering sounded behind her, and she felt arms wrap around her waist and hold her close. With a small smile, she placed her hand on Neo's and tapped her, hoping to reassure her that she was okay. However, before she could say anything, Yang heard General Ironwood's voice boom over the Bullhead speakers.

"People of Vale, Mistral and Vacuo. I am General James Ironwood. I came here on a mission of peace, to offer the surrender of Atlas to you. The war is over; we are at peace now."

"So this is what peace looks like, huh?" Yang heard Coco said as she pulled a cigarette from a pack and slipped it between her lips. The two of them looked down at the burning city below them. Large explosions levelled entire blocks to eradicate large patches of Grimm that were still spreading as the flame from Coco's lighter shone in her sunglasses, highlighting her scars. Her voice coming out with grey smoke. "Funny. Looks just like war,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy holidays! Here's another chapter that took me way too long to get out to you. 
> 
> I hope everyone is doing good and is staying safe in this terrible terrible world right now. As for me, I'm loving the new season so far. War, the promise of Death, dubious character actions with the general feeling of "What the fuck is happening" I live for it.
> 
> If you enjoyed, leave a Kudo! If you already have, leave a comment! I love reading them and I love replying to them. This story is also posted on FF.net under the same name. So if you read there as well, come show your support!
> 
> And as always, thank you for taking time out of your busy days to read my slice of madness!


	9. A Once Locked Heart Pt. I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, my name is AngryFace. I "may" have gone off the deep end on this one and made my self a throne to declare myself a lord of angst. 
> 
> Trigger warnings for torture and a few rapey vibes. If you want to avoid that, look for the *  
> That is where it starts and doesn't end until the chapter is finished. 
> 
> This is your warning! Reader discretion is advised!

**_A Once Locked Heart_ **

_Pt. I_

_"Her mother told her she could grow up to be anything she wanted to be, so she grew up to become the strongest of the strong, the strangest of the strange, the wildest of the wild, the wolf leading wolves."_

_― **Nikita Gill**_

* * *

The plan was set. Get to Leo, get the Relic and get out. Honestly, it could not have been simpler except for the fact that there was a war raging around Raven as she flew through the air towards Haven Academy on the top of the mountain. With everyone fighting on the ground below her, no one would think to look up at a singular bird flying through the air.

Picking her landing spot, she had long since grown used to her form shifting from bird to human; she did not lose her stride when she hit the ground and took off into a sprint towards the school. Ahead of her, she saw guards with their rifles at the ready for anyone to come near them. Crouching behind some bushes, she watched them to find an opening and sneak past, but they refused to move.

The seconds ticked past, and Raven could feel something was wrong. The guards were still, unnaturally so. Something was off. Getting up from her hiding spot, she placed her hand on the hilt of her blade to get ready to strike as she approached the guards, only for them to stay entirely still, even when she was out in the open.

Reaching the guards, Raven found what was wrong.

They were dead, pinned to the wall with spikes made of Dust that kept them upright and looking like nothing was wrong. Their skin was pale from the blood loss, and their eyes were hidden under their helmets. The level of Dust manipulation was impressive, to say the least, when a terrible thought reached her mind. If Atlesian assassins were hunting down the Mistrali officers, then Leo would be in danger.

Running into the main compound, Raven took note of how eerily quiet the whole place was. While there was no shortage of explosions and bullet fires. There was nothing here, no alarms or announcements to keep everyone in the loop. She did not like it. There were no guards, no soldiers running around. Like everyone just left, but knowing what happened to the guards out front, Raven feared something worse had happened.

The halls were empty, the lights were out, and there was no one around. Looking into each room, Raven saw nothing that gave any hint of what had happened here. She rushed on through the halls until she came to the courtyard. She ran through the open area heading towards the base of the CCT where Leo's office would be. Pushing open the large double doors, Raven came face to face with a horrific scene.

Leo was dead on the ground, but something looked wrong about it. Like a deflated balloon. What was worse was there were two people crouched next to him with bones in their arms. They were busy arranging them in some sort of pattern when Raven interrupted them. They looked up at her; their eyes were hidden behind sunglasses despite being inside. The three of them stared at each other in silence before the man with slicked-back ashen hair spoke.

"Well," He started casually. "This is awkward,"

Raven could sense how dangerous these two people were, she liked to think she could read people well enough, and these two were giving off dangerous auras. She brought her hand over to her blade and gripped the handle of it. However, this action did not go unnoticed as the woman with fiery red, and yellow hair let the bones fall from her arms and grabbed her sword as she stood up. Curiously enough, she held it by the blade, just past the crossguard. "Look at that, Brother mine, someone wants to play," She said with a smile on her face.

The man released the bones from his arms and stood up as well, adjusting his long coat and eyeing up Raven. "I suppose we do have some time, Sister dear." He said Raven felt his eyes on him. "But not much; we do have lots of work before the day is done," He flicked his wrists, and two daggers appeared in his hands.

"Lots of work indeed,"

Casually, they began to walk towards Raven, who started to step back outside, drawing them closer into the door. She was no stranger to fighting when she was outnumbered, so she needed a plan. The first step was to get them into the choke point. Raven drew them back to the door, where they stood side by side, appraising her like she was prey. That would be their downfall.

With a quick slash from her weapon, Muninn's Cut, she activated the Dust in the blade and sent a streak of flames right at them. They had no choice but to block as Raven jumped in right after, using the last attack as cover. The woman caught her attack with her sword, grunting with the effort while the man dove in for a counter.

Raven quickly jumped back, feeling the sharpness just slip past her body before using her blade to block a thrown dagger from the man. Just as Raven had done, the siblings had used one attack as a cover for another. The sister came in with a heavy overhand slash that Raven blocked. She saw the cracks form in her Dust infused blade and watched a sick grin form on the other woman's face as she reached back with one hand and punched Raven's gut.

Feeling the wind get knocked from her lungs, she pulsed her Aura through the Dust in her blade again and sent a flame infused Aura slash back at them, giving Raven some space to catch her breath. Raven and the other woman stared at each other; the sister twisted her neck from side to side, cracking the joints as she took a deep breath. "Oh," She began, "She is fun, brother mine," she spun her heavy blade a bit as Raven released the latch of her used blade and pulled out an ice Dust blade next.

"And look at that Dust manipulation, I'm good at it, but that is impressive," the man said, pointing to Raven's sheath.

"Can I keep her?" the sister asked.

"We'll have to see," he said as he pulled a deck of cards from nowhere and began to shuffle them.

"I'm not a pet to anyone," Raven growled out.

"Oooh, she's feisty; I like that," the sister said before charging in again with a grin on her face. Raven was back on the defensive as she blocked and countered the woman.

Her swordsmanship was impressive, proper forms when she needed it, but able to react with something completely unorthodox to capitalize on Raven's openings. While the woman had power, Raven had speed and a more extended reach. Keeping her at bay was easier said than down; however, with her brother throwing the cards he was shuffling at Raven, whatever advantage she got did not last long.

The woman blocked one slash by gripping the blade with one hand to brace for the impact and twisted her whole body, knocking Raven's sword out of the way, only to come back with a backhand that felt much heavier than she expected. She felt her Aura struggle to react to the hit, and Raven found herself on the ground with only a moment to block her face from a trio of incoming cards from the man, one of them sticking into her gauntlet.

Looking at the card embedded in her armour, she saw an intricate card display six of swords. Before she could do anything about it, the man smiled and snapped his fingers. The next moment, the card glowed red, and Raven braced the best she could as it exploded, knocking her across the ground.

The bastard compressed Dust into the cards as she did with her swords. Raven was running out of time, and by the chuckle she heard, the siblings were just toying with her. Standing back on her feet, Raven wiped some blood from her mouth and pulled out a gravity Dust blade and extended it fully. Their teamwork was exceptional by Raven's standards; with no communication, they knew how to fight with each other. The only thing Raven could do was to divide and conquer.

They both smiled as Raven charged in, yelling as she went as their blades crossed once more. Sparks flew from the women's blades as they danced around each other; Raven was getting better at understanding how this woman fought and was able to counter some of the dirtier attacks she threw out. During the exchange, she kept the sister between her and her brother, stopping anymore of his cards from landing on her. Raven waited for her moment before striking.

With a quick overhead strike, she activated the Dust in the blade and made her sword too heavy to lift. The sister was knocked down from the sudden weight shift, and Raven detached the edge from the hilt to jumped over her. Pulling a fresh lightning blade from her sheath, she charged down the brother who produced daggers and blocked the attack, only for the electricity from the Dust to jump into him. It was not enough to kill him with his Aura, but it was enough to disable him for a moment.

With a punch to his screaming face, he reeled back and fell to the ground, and Raven turned around to the sister, still trying to pry her sword from under the weight of the gravity Dust. With a new blade in the hilt, Raven rushed forward and thrust into the woman, the shout from the man making her turn around, but it was too late. The blade slipped right into her stomach, and Raven could see the long sword on the other side of her.

Raven felt something was wrong, though. The blade went into her body with no resistance at all; not even her Aura fought it. It was then Raven saw the sunglasses slipped off her face and the clothes drop from her body and onto the ground, passing through her body. Raven stared at the woman in her fiery eyes. Her skin had taken on a translucent trait as she looked down at where the blade had impaled her.

"Rude," The woman said as she reached out quickly at Raven's chest. If blades and clothes could go through her, Raven did not want to know if she could reach _into_ people. Jumping back, the woman clicked her tongue as her body materialized again. "I liked that top, you _bitch_ ,"

"Well, maybe if you had let me infuse your clothes with Dust, you'd get fewer holes in them," The man called out from behind Raven. "Do you mind if I interrupt? I would like a turn to dance," Raven turned to see the man walk towards her, a blade in each hand and a smile on his face.

"I suppose so," the sister said as she finally pulled her blade as the gravity Dust wore off. Quickly turning, Raven blocked quick slashes from the brother as he stepped into her guard.

Where the sister was power, he was all technique. Quick slashes and thrusts were met with him turning her wrist wrong and a boot to the back of her knee, dropping her down where she just managed to block a sharp edge from going for her neck. Retracting the blade of her sword made it easier to block and counter his flurry of knife blows as she was back up against a lamp post.

With now where to go, Rave quickly blocked one attack and extended the blade, knocking the brother off-balance as her foot came up and kicked him in the chest. Releasing his knives, he grabbed her leg and held on, limiting how far he was kicked until Raven jumped up and spun, bringing her heel to his head and knocking him aside. Raven quickly rolled back up to her feet as she slid a new blade from her sheath.

The brother merely smiled as he got back up on his feet as he pointed down. "Love your boots," He said with a smile and a raised hand. Raven looked down and saw one of his cards attached to her leg, where it exploded with a snap of his fingers, sending Raven flying again in a smoke puff. She could feel her Aura straining to keep up. Before she could get back into it, she watched something come slicing through the smoke at her. Raven brought up her arm to block it, but it wrapped around her body over and over again until her arm was trapped against her body. Looking down at what trapped her, it was a long chain interconnected with the woman's sword on it.

As the smoke cleared, Raven saw the woman holding her sword's hilt where the chain began. Her sword changed into a whip of some sort and was holding her in place. Her brother dusted his long coat off as he stood next to his sister and admired her work. "I don't care what you say; I'm keeping her,"

Raven weighed her options as explosions echoed through the air. The war in Mistral reached its zenith, and she was running out of time to collect the Relic. Focusing on herself, Raven tapped into the magic that filled her soul. An ancient power that had forced its way into her all those years ago. When she opened her eyes, red flames came from them as she broke out of the whip-sword that bound her. Flying into the air using a gust of wind, and hovered where she transformed her blade into a massive, frozen sword three times her height.

The whip retracted into the woman's sword as they stared up at Raven using the Spring Maiden powers. She expected them to run or beg not to be struck down by someone with god-like powers. The last thing she expected was for the man to laugh.

"What fortuitous circumstance be this," he smiled as he took a step towards Raven. "I suppose I should introduce ourselves properly; My name is Ash, this is my sister Ember-," The naked woman gave a wave as she smiled up at Raven.

"-And we are members of Salem's Inquisition,"

Raven focused on the man, Ash, as he kept speaking. "See, we were originally tasked with hunting down the Maidens and delivering them to Salem, our queen. I'm sure you know who she is if you held off using the Maiden's powers until now. We were performing our noble task to hunt down the Winter Maiden before but were tasked to help, _another_ , in their assigned task. But here we are, a maiden falling into our laps,"

"I can't wait to break a real Maiden," Ember said as she licked her teeth.

"Playtime is over-," Ash said as he pulled more cards into his hand and tossed it over to Ember. The woman took the card and crushed it in her hand. The compressed Dust from the cards and the Dust began to surround her body, forming armoured plates that protected her. "-It's time to hunt _,_ "

Flying through the air, Raven dodged more thrown cards that exploded when Ash snapped his fingers. Ember leapt into the air with her large blade and brought it down against Raven's large ice blade. Ember had nothing to stop Raven from slamming her down with a counter, but the Dust armour did not even crack as she slammed into the ground and received an Aura slash that carved up the earth but left no marks on the armour; Ember merely stood back up and dusted herself off.

Using her Maiden powers, Raven charged down at Ember, extending her blade as the woman tried to jump out of the way of it. Another large scar was left in the ground as Raven left Ember pinned under her elemental blade, which gave Raven enough time to turn and block Ash's advance on her. Blades in both hands, he charged in with fast slashes and thrusts. Raven summoned her own blades made of ice to block and counter him.

He was fast, faster than Ember. Raven could only run on instinct as the blades were blocked, countered and countered again in a constant stream of attacks that left her no room to even think about what needed to be done. Raven summoned a wall of ice with a stomp of her foot that Ash had to jump out of the way to stop from getting caught in it. Taking advantage of the distance, Raven jumped on top of the wall and conjured icicles around her and wasted no time throwing them at Ash.

The man quickly switched his blades for decks of cards and sent them flying into the air around him. Her icicles hit the cards before reaching their target, causing them to explode and cover the area in black smoke, where Ember came charging through right at Raven. The Maiden brought her sword down to block a wild swing. Ember landed on the wall and continued her assault against the Maiden.

Duelling the woman on top of the ice wall was terrible enough; Ember did not even bother blocking the majority of Raven's attacks. With the Dust armour interacting with her Semblance, whenever Raven swung her sword, she could just phase out and let the weapon pass through her, leaving Raven open for attacks while she came under constant pressure from Ash throwing exploding cards at her.

Raven was running out of options quickly, but she noticed that every time Ember was about to use her phasing Semblance, she jumped a little and released the grip of her weapon to let Raven's sword go through her. Timing her strikes, Raven watched as Ember activated her Semblance, and Raven acted. Raising a pillar of ice just under Ember, the woman was forced to hold her Semblance, and she fell through the wall lest she becomes a part of it, and her weapon falling to the ground with a clatter. With the sister taken care of at the moment, Raven turned to the brother.

Raven crafted a long spear from her position on the top of the wall and threw it right at the man. Acting quickly, Ash raised one hand and pointed his other hand towards the ice wall. The Maiden watched as the spear of fire hit the palm of one and enter his body, only to be shot out of his other hand. It flew through the air and hit the wall, where it exploded on contact. Raven felt the shockwave and jumped down to the ground level before her wall could collapse with her still on top of it.

Landing on the ground, Raven summoned a series of swords around her and ran straight for Ash. With every swing of her sword, three more would swing from another direction, compromising the man's impressive defence, and she saw his Aura beginning to shimmer from the strain. Raising her arms for another attack, she felt someone tackle her to the ground. Looking down, she saw the Dust armoured arms of Ember holding her tightly, and something pass through her.

Looking up, she saw the woman running past her as the empty armour held Raven tightly. Next, she saw Ash throw a card onto the ground, creating a wall of ice to separate them before a finger snap echoed through the air. Raven was enveloped by a glow for just a moment before the Dust armour exploded around her. Raven was thrown through the air by the force of the explosion.

Her whole body hurt as her Aura finally relented to the abuse. A cough ripped through her chest as she struggled to push herself to her knees. All the world spun around her; the courtyard was destroyed. Craters and cut marks covered every surface around them, the ice melt putting out the fires she had started. There was a ringing in her years as she tried to get to her feet to fight back Ash as he walked towards her, only for a sickly icy feeling course through her body.

Looking down at her chest, she saw a ghostly hand sticking out and wiggle its fingers at her before retreating back into Raven's chest and wrap around her heart. "I got you~" Ember softly sang into her ear. Raven could feel her heartbeat being restrained by the woman's hand as Ember tugged Raven to her feet. Ash smiled at them in front of them as he checked his watch and looked up at the horizon as the sun began to rise.

"Good job, sister, but we must hurry if we want to leave before the ancient one gets here," Ash said as he stuck his hands in his pockets and jerked his head back towards the CCT.

"Quite right, Brother mine," Amber said before squeezing Raven's heart gently and pushing her mouth right into her ear. "Start walking; you have a vault to open,"

Reluctantly, Raven began to walk into the main lobby, where all three of them stepped over the deboned body of Leo Lionheart and stepped in front of the statue depicting a goddess. Ash pulled out a pocket watch and placed it where it needed to go, and the whole platform began to descend into the depths of the tower.

The seconds passed, and Raven had to suppress every reaction to fight as Ember began to run her fingers through Raven's hair and tracing the curve of her neck, humming as she did so. Every few seconds, she would feel Ember's fingers tighten around her heart before re-releasing it, reminding her of her shackle. When they reached the bottom, Raven stared in awe at the vault before her.

A platform protruded from the wall where the elevator stopped. In front of Raven, the ground had a line that lit up when they took a step off the elevator. The line glowed into three orbs on the floor until they reached the door itself, embedded into a wall of stone, sitting under a tree of glowing orange petals. The three of them took in the sight until Ember guided Raven to the door, where she was forced to open it unless she wanted her heart crushed inside her own chest.

When Raven reached out to the vault door, and it reacted to her touch. They all watched as the shutters began to fold in on themselves to reveal the real vault that kept the Relic safe.

On the other side of the door, an impossible space of endless desert existed. On the other side, the only things were three platforms that lead to the Relic itself that sat on top of a small stone pillar. The Relic of Knowlege was a glowing blue lamp with gold accents that floated above its stand. "Beautiful," Ash whispered as he walked into the impossible place and picked up the Relic and examined it. Raven wanted to follow him, to gaze into the space that was supposed to be hers to protect, but Ember kept her still, her other arm wrapping around her chest and her chin nestled into her neck, where she was peppered with small kisses, making her skin crawl.

"How fortunate we are that you came to us, My Maiden," Ash said when he returned to them. The world beyond the vault door was swallowed up by darkness and just faded out of existence behind him. "We only have a few more things to do, and we can be on our way," He said with a nod to Ember, who shifted her grip from her heart to her throat from inside her body and squeezed. Raven tried to fight the encroaching darkness as her air was suddenly cut off. The last thing Raven heard was Ember's voice in her ear before she lost her fight.

"We are going to have so much fun together…"

_***** _

When Raven woke up again, she struggled to move, only to find out she was pinned down by Ember sitting in her lap. "Oh good, you're awake," Ember's voice filled her ear as she giggled with affection. The woman gave Raven one last gentle caress before getting off of her while calling out for Ash. Looking around, Raven saw that she was strapped down to a chair; her arms and legs were bound with her left hand pinned down even more. Each finger was individually secured with something at tips. Before she could try and get herself free, the man walked into the room with the Relic in his hands.

"Morning," He said as he set the lap down on a chair across from Raven. She watched it float in place before Ash leaned against the chair. "I don't suppose you know how to activate it, do you? I would love the information it has to offer.

Instead of answering him, Raven spat in his face. Which earned her a hard punch across her jaw that rocked her brain inside her skull. "That was quite rude, _Raven,_ " Ember growled as she roughly took her throbbing jaw and forced her to look into her fiery eyes. "Say sorry,"

"Fuck you!" Raven braced for another hit that rocked her whole head to the side, nearly tipping the chair over wholly. She could taste her blood on her tongue and drip down her chin as she stared at Ember defiantly. Ash calmly wiped the spit off his face with a handkerchief and deposited it with a flick of his wrist.

"You might as well start," Ash said as he picked the Relic up off the chair and let it sit on the floor as he sat down in its place. A dark smile formed on Ember's lips as she turned back to Raven and mounted her lap again. Fortunately for Raven, the other woman decided to put clothes on at some point while she was knocked out. Roughing grabbing Raven's face, she angled her view up and stared deeply into Raven's eyes, her nails digging into her skin.

"This is my favourite part, the part where you scream..." She whispered to Raven. Her breath came in quickly and deeply. Her face flushed as her thumbs traced the outsides of Raven's eyes. "My name is Ember," She said as her fist was pulled back and was driven back into Raven's face, aimed right at her eye. With every punch, every slap, Ember repeated her name with an intimate gesture. Pain followed by a gentle touch and Ember's name driven into her skull. Bloody and bruised, the beatings finally stopped when Ember realized that Raven would not scream for her. But she froze when Ember gently caressed Raven's bloody face, and her tongue was dragged up the side of her face, lapping up the blood and finally assaulting her mouth.

Raven bit down on the forging origin object invading her mouth; Ember gave a hungry growl and pulled out, her mouth smeared with Raven's blood as she ground against the bound woman. "This isn't my favourite toy, but it always makes people scream, no matter how strong they are," Ember said as her fingers danced down Raven's arm to the apparatus on her hand. Her fingers gently pressed down on one of the leavers at the end of a finger, and Raven felt something sharp threaten to slide under her nail. The Maiden's eyes went wide when she realized what was about to happen.

"My name is Ember," A black grin formed on her face as she raised up her hand, and a fist came down to slam down on the lever. Raven screamed out as her fingernail was forcibly removed from her finger. Raven thrashed in her bindings as Ember let out a groan of pleasure, sucking the scream from her lips with another painful kiss while her hips bucked against Raven's thigh. Tears fell from her eyes as she cried out with the waves of pain that made her body shake. "What's my name?" Ember asked, out of breath with her lips pressed against Raven's ear, her nails digging into her shoulders.

"You're fucking crazy," Raven managed before she saw Ember's hand lift again. "No no wait wait!" Her pleas were cut off as another knife was pushed under her fingernail and was popped off by force, making her scream even more as her arm was felt like it was on fire. Ember arched her back as she moaned in chorus with Raven's screaming before the Maiden's face was painfully forced to look into Ember's eyes, equal measures of hate and arousal in them.

"Look at me!" She growled. "Look at my eyes, remember my hair. I will haunt your nightmares, you fucking bitch!" Ember tore Raven's top off and bit into her bare shoulder, her hips never stopping their movements as her teeth found her neck, "What's. My. Name?"

Raven knew the game they were playing, and there was only one defence to it. The Maiden held her eyes shut and shouted out. "Yang Xiao Long! Ruby Rose! Weiss Schnee! Ivory Hale!" Raven shouted out every name that came to her mind while blocking any image of Ember from her mind.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!" The woman shouted as she began to use her fists on her face and held her head in her hands. Forcibly opening her eye to stare into them. "OPEN YOUR FUCKING EYES OR I'LL TEAR THEM OUT!" Raven only shouted out more names, earning a slash across her face, marking her skin with Ember's nails. Raven could faintly hear Ash's voice in the middle of Ember's screaming when the woman was removed from Raven, and she could finally catch a breath.

"Take a walk," His voice was commanding, and he pointed to the door of the room. Raven could see Ember's whole body shake like she was about to combust in fury and arousal. Eventually, the woman stormed out of the room with one last dirty glare and slammed the door on her way out. Ash just took a deep breath and sat back down in his seat. "Forgive my sister; she is incredibly impulsive and rather cranky when she doesn't get to finish," how casually he waved his sister's actions made Raven worry even more as he moved his seat closer to hers.

"You are incredibly clever; I'll give you that much. Shouting out other's names so we can't take the Maiden powers is such a smart move. We have no way of knowing who these women are, or even if they exist! That is brilliant," Ash spoke with a genuine smile on his face as he shook his finger at her. "I knew I would like you,"

"Go to hell!" Raven growled out through the pain raking through her body. Her arm shaking as the air was attacking the bleeding wounds at the end of her fingers. "You can't kill me without losing the Maiden powers."

"This is true, but we already have the Relic; delivering the Maiden with it is just icing on the cake," Ash said as he got out of his seat and leaned over Raven; she could see the open gashes on her face in the reflection of his sunglasses. "But where dear Ember is impulsive, I am patient," He spoke as he pulled a card out from thin air and began to balance it on top of the next lever that would remove her fingernail.

"The ocean cannot move mountains, but it can carve through them, given enough time. Creeks become streams, streams become rivers. Water will carve stone through the eons until there is nothing but a cavernous valley. No hint of the mountain that was there before. Everyone is a slave to time, even us." Raven watched him balance the edge of the card, standing on its own on top of the lever, and Ash returned to his seat.

"You are strong, Raven, one of the strongest I have ever met. But at the end of everything, the strong will be made weak, and the weak will die off. All you need…" He lifted his hand and snapped his fingers. The card Ash painfully balanced began to glow purple, and the gravity Dust the card was made out of began to push the lever down.

"...Is _patience_ ,"

Raven watched in horror as the blade was slowly pushed into her flesh, and it was agony as her next nail was removed over the next several minutes. Raven tried her best to keep her screams suppressed, but the pain was too much, and she lost the fight. No matter how much she struggled against her bonds, how much she thrashed in her chair, nothing could stop the knife from digging into her finger. She just wanted it all to end. When the nail was finally separated, Ash stood from his seat and plucked it off her finger and examined it before letting it fall to the floor. Sweat plastered Raven's hair to her face as she willed her body to stop shaking, to stop looking so weak. Her vision was filled with Ash's face as he placed the next card in its spot and held his fingers up, ready to continue the torture.

"Her name is Ember." He spoke softly. Raven could not find her voice; only a low sob escaped her lips as tears fell from her eyes. He waited a moment before he snapped his fingers, and Raven was lost to the pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo boy...
> 
> I don't know what came over me for this chapter, but congratulations to those who managed through it. For those who didn't want anything to do with that, hopefully, the rest of the chapter was fun too. 
> 
> If you enjoyed it, leave a Kudo! If you already have, leave a comment! I love reading them and I love replying to them. This story is also posted on FF.net under the same name. So if you read there as well, come show your support! I'm also on Tumblr at AngryFaceWritings. Come say hi!
> 
> And as always, thank you for taking time out of your busy days to read my slice of madness!


	10. A Once Pure Snowfall Pt. III

_**A Once Pure Snowfall  
**Pt.III_

* * *

To say space was an issue would be putting it mildly. Rosy was busy stitching up yet another wound on the floor of the hangar bay. The massive room that was usually filled with Bullheads was now filled with people where ever they could fit. Filled survivors from the city that was left behind hours ago with whoever they could save. The air was filled with people crying, moaning in pain and chatter as everyone tried to give each other enough space to just exist.

With medical supplies stretched to their limit, Rosy could only put three stitches into this man's arm and covered it. With a warning not to move it around too much before moving onto the next person she saw. All the severe injuries were moved to the medical wing, with everything else pushed aside for the time being. Rosy never thought that this was what she would be doing when she signed up for the army.

Tending to soldiers, sure. But these were just regular people, nothing to do with the military life. But as the General said, the war was over, and all efforts will now be turned to humanitarian efforts. The more she looked, the more disheartened she became. Children with no parents were huddled together, strangely silent with a few adults looking over them. People walking around with pictures of loved ones, asking if anyone knew if they had seen them. A long, vacant stare of a little girl holding onto a picture frame, tears clearing tracks down her dirty face.

Using the last of her supply of burn gel, Rosy went back to the med-bay for resupply and decided to check up on a few people she had on her roster in the meantime. A man with shrapnel pulled from his leg seemed like he could be released and a bed freed up for someone who needed it. An amputee would need a little while longer, and someone who lost their eye was released just an hour ago. Finally, she checked up on everyone's _special guest._

Clearing her ID with the guards outside, Rosy went inside one of the few rooms that were left clear, save for one person. Ruby Rose, Specialist Schnee's personal favourite, got her own room even though they could fit three more beds in the room instead of having them clogging up the already tight hallways. Rosy knew the young woman by a different name, one she learned from treating some of the soldiers who were lucky enough to keep their lives when coming across the mythical _"Red Death"_ of Vale.

Despite all the stories she had heard, Rosy had never expected such a young woman to be the subject of such horrific tales. She looked so tired, too, like she never had a good night's sleep in years. Heavy bags under her bruised eyes, wrapped head to toe in bandages after a horrible fight, from what Rosy could tell.

Checking the IV bag, she made a note to change it in a few hours when she took one more look at the woman in the bed to see a pair of silver eyes open and looking at her. "Oh my god," Rosy said as she saw the patient starting to move. "No no no, lay down. You just got out of a coma; I'll get the doctor," She gently urged the woman back onto the bed and radioed for Doctor Bleu, saying that his patent was finally awake.

While she was waiting, asking Ruby questions but got silence in return, Rosy heard a commotion went to the door and looked down the halls and saw what was happening. Two people were throwing fists at each other; both were wearing the uniforms of the White Fang. One of them had three streaks of red across their face and was currently winning the engagement. Rosy had heard about the infighting of the terrorist organization, but that was the last thing anyone needed right now, on the Mantle of Responsibility.

With the two Faunus being separated by armed soldiers, Rosy turned to Ruby, only to see the young woman in front of her. In her hands was the pole that had her IV bag hanging off it. With a furious look on her bloody face, Ruby swung the pole with all her might, and the last thing Rosy saw was the base coming towards her face before being lost in darkness.

* * *

The hanger was filled with people; invisible borders had been made from where Weiss was standing. The different kingdoms were all bunched together; even the White Fang members they saved had been divided into several sub-factions. Many did not want to be associated with the others between the Faunus saved from Mistal, Feiyan and the White Fang. But of the hundreds of people in this hanger bay, Weiss was looking for one person.

Walking onto the pathways that wrap around the hanger walls above the floor, Weiss found Velvet leaning against the railing, staring out over the people they had saved. Weiss had only seen the Faunus woman a few times before, always forgetting how different she had looked since she had last properly met her. One of her rabbit ears had been cut in half at some point, while the other had been bent down permanently. The worst of the changes, however, was the three long scars that marred her face.

Weiss stayed back and watched her. Of everything that had happened during the war, the thing that had been eating away at Weiss was the fact that Velvet had no idea what happened to the rest of her team, and it was all Weiss's fault. Collecting her thoughts, Weiss took a deep breath and approached the other woman and called out to her.

Velvet flinched for a moment and turned to Weiss. "Hey," Her voice was almost lost over the general chatter of everyone below them. "How are you doing?"

"I've had better days," Weiss said honestly as she stood next to Velvet overlooking the mass of people. She could feel the tension in the air. All it took was one person to make one mistake, and there would be complete chaos onboard the Dreadnaught. "You're looking much better though, glad to see you walking around," She remembered when Blake dragged Velvet from an alleyway back in Mistral. Something that felt like months, but it had only been a few days.

Velvet gently pressed a hand to her side and grimaced a bit. "I'm still a bit sore, but I'm alive thanks to you," She smiled before taking a breath and looking back over everything. A silence stretched between the two of them before Velvet sighed, and her gaze dropped. "Is this the part where you arrest me?" She asked, finally.

Weiss understood where Velvet was coming from. On the surface, while Velvet was a member of Black Fang, she still participated in activities that went against Atlas, even going so far as to killing Atlas soldiers on several of these engagements. One of them is when they attacked an Atlesian compound to kill Gift, right in front of Weiss. Even though all the operations were against Watt's faction inside the Atlesian government, Velvet still organized everything. However, Weiss was here for something else.

"No," She said as she pulled a large scroll out and handed it to the other woman. "Quite the opposite, actually," Velvet took the scroll and began to read its contents. Weiss watched as her brows pinched in confusion the further she got into the files until she finally looked up at Weiss.

"What is this? I don't understand,"

"As of O-seven hundred this morning, General Ironwood declassified military documents per certain laws. One of them is "Operation: Black Fang," Weiss explained since she had already read through the file in detail earlier. "Originally, Black Fang was a covert op who was made to root out White Fang cells inside Atlas and Mantle. However, it was repurposed during the war to have complete autonomy to pursue any and every avenue they deemed necessary to destroy the White Fang without risk of compromise by constantly reporting back to the military. Including recruiting and acquiring assists outside of Atlas. During deployment, the original leader was killed, and leadership fell onto you, where you accomplished its original mission to the best of your abilities."

Velvet just stared at her and shook her head. "That isn't how any of it happened though, I was the one who created it; I didn't even name it. Someone else did! Adam escaped, and I nearly died!"

"Well, history is written by the victors, and we won, in a way," Weiss said gently. "With Atlas claiming the creation of the Black Fang, it gives all its operators the protection of the Atlesian kingdom, and it's laws. This includes wartime pensions and medical aid, which also means everyone who is associated with the Black Fang is guaranteed citizenship in the kingdom of Atlas, even if they choose not to continue in the military,"

Velvet just looked at Weiss before looking back over at the people sitting below them. "We're giving your people a home, Velvet. Someplace they can finally rest while the world gets rebuilt."

"You have no idea what this means to us, Weiss," Velvet's voice was strained. "So many of us lost everything because of this damn war. Friends, Family, our homes, and you're just giving it back to us even though we never destroyed the White Fang, Adam escaped in Mistral, and I have no idea where he is,"

"You shattered the White Fang, every day, we're getting reports of what the White Fang had done from interrogations of the White Fang we saved. So many of them are testifying against Adam and want nothing to do with them anymore. Every White Fang we save or arrest is one more person that Adam doesn't have at his disposal, and it's thanks to you and your group."

Velvet nodded and took a deep breath, and Weiss saw a sense of ease came over the Faunus woman. "Thank you, Weiss; you have no idea what this means to us,"

"Don't thank me, thank the General when you see him. Which should be in a few hours for a new assignment, Specialist Scarlatina," Velvet just laughed and gave a half-hearted salute.

"Thank you, Specialist Schnee," Weiss returned the salute and laughed with her and leaned on the rail next to her friend. A comfortable silence fell on them, but Weiss's stomach was anything but calm now. Images of Velvet's team kept playing in her mind, of the old theatre and how Weiss had killed them years ago.

"Velvet, there is something I need to talk to you about," Weiss began as she turned to Velvet. She waited for Weiss to get her thoughts together, but before Weiss could say anything else, Velvet's ears twitched, and she quickly looked over the crowd and began to focus on something in the mass. Weiss tried to see what she was focusing on but could not see anything specific.

"Sorry, I'll be right back," Velvet said absently as she handed the scroll tablet back to Weiss and began to quickly walk along the walkways towards where a group of people were amassed. That was where people could go and hand in the paperwork for Atlesian citizenship. Concerned, Weiss followed Velvet to where a commotion was beginning to form in the area. Someone was yelling at one of the officers, but Weiss could not make out what was being said. Only when Velvet stopped right above it and leaned over the railing did she realize who it was.

"COCO!" Velvet yelled. From below, Coco stopped shouting and scanned the walkways above her until she spotted whoever had called their name. The two stared at each other for a moment before Coco all but threw her purse at the officer and pushed her way past the others. Sprinting down towards the stairs, dodging and shoving people aside. Velvet doing the same thing, running towards the stairs and breaking out into a sprint to get to her friend when she hit bottom.

Weiss followed behind and waved the soldiers away, who began to get concerned at the sudden movements. She watched as the two women all but crashed into each other, falling to their knees, their arms wrapped tightly around and crying into one another. Weiss stood by and watched the reunion with a small smile on her lips. They examined each other, and Weiss felt a pit form in her stomach when she saw Coco's face. Velvet removed her glasses, and she saw a face scarred and an eye missing. "What happened to you?" Coco asked as her fingers traced Velvet's facial scars.

"I could ask the same thing!" She cried as she shook her head. She then suddenly began to look around at everyone. "Where's Yatsu and Fox?" She asked. Coco was silent and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Velvs," Coco quietly cried as she squeezed Velvet's shoulders. Velvet only cried and held Coco close.

"I still have you," She said as she pressed her forehead to Coco's, and Weiss could feel even more guilt pour over her. "What happened?" Coco was about to answer, but Weiss saw her one hazel eye latch onto Weiss, and all sorrow was replaced with anger as she shot to her feet and pointed at Weiss.

"YOU!" Coco shouted and stormed towards her. Again, the soldiers nearby began to intercept, but Weiss waved them down, even after Coco grabbed her by her chest plate and slammed her against the wall. "YOU KILLED THEM!" Weiss came face to face with her choices in this war, and there was only one thing she could do.

"I'm sorry, Coco,"

"SORRY DOESN'T BRING THEM BACK!" She yelled, even as Velvet tried to pull her back. "THEY WERE MY FAMILY! _OUR_ FAMILY!" She continued to scream at Weiss.

"It was war! You would have killed me without hesitation back then too!"

Coco pushed and gritted her teeth. "I know, but fuck does it still hurt. Give me one reason not to end you right now,"

"She saved my life!" Velvet pulled Coco again, dislodging one of her hands. "If it wasn't for Weiss, I would be dead in Mistral." Coco paused and thought about it before finally releasing Weiss. Before Weiss could do anything, a finger was thrust into her face, and Coco leaned in.

"We're not done talking yet." She said as she walked away. Weiss knew that was going to be a horrible conversation. Looking over at Velvet, she could see how hurt she was, looking back at Coco then back at Weiss.

"I'm sorry, Velvet," Was the only thing Weiss could say to her. The only thing Velvet could do was give a slight nod and chase after Coco. While the whole interaction went better than Weiss could ever have hoped, it still stung.

_"Specialist Schee, Specialist Belladonna, Specialist Xiao Long, to the infirmary immediately,"_

The announcement cut through the chatter, and there was only one reason all three of them would be called.

Ruby finally woke up.

Weiss quickly made her way through the halls towards the infirmary, passing some injured and others off to do their own duties. Arriving at Ruby's room, however, the girl was missing. Sitting on the bed was a nurse who was getting their head stitched by someone else. A streak of blood on the wall and apparent signs of a struggle in the room. Weiss hurried down the halls and found the doctor who was in charge of Ruby.

"Where is she?" Weiss asked immediately.

"There's been a slight problem," He said as he began to lead her down the halls.

"What kind of problem?" Weiss asked when they arrived at a corridor filled with large glass windows and heavy doors. In front of one of the windows was Yang and Blake, staring wide-eyed at something inside one of the rooms. When she stood next to them, she shared in their shock at the sight before her.

Strapped to a bed was Ruby. Thrashing against her bonds that held her down. Blood dripping down her face from where she tore open her stitches on her head. Weiss could faintly hear her screaming as she continued to fight against the bed, trying every angle to release herself.

"When she woke up, she attacked one of the nurses, and it took five armed soldiers to subdue her; two are currently in critical condition," Doctor Bleu said as he stood next to her. "We put her in this isolation cell and injected Aura suppressers into her so she couldn't use her Semblance on anyone. As you can see, she's extremely aggressive right now,"

All three of them just stared in horror as Ruby continued to fight against her bonds. "What can we do?" Yang finally asked, not taking her eyes away from the glass.

"For now, we wait until she calms down; I'm not risking any of my staff while she's like this," Bleu said as he pulled out a tablet and looked down the hall. "Excuse me, I've got other patients to tend to; I've already talked to Ironwood and Ozpin about this," With that, the doctor left, and the three women were left alone.

Weiss knew this was a possibility. After seeing what Ruby was capable of doing, she just hoped there was a way to get through to her before something could happen to her. Blake placed her hand on Yang's shoulder and squeezed it. "We'll get through to her; I know we will."

"Yeah…" Her voice was broken as she just stared at her younger sister. "Whatever it takes, we'll save her." Blake turned and started at Weiss. She knew what Weiss was thinking. Ruby attacked three people as soon as she came out of a coma, topped with her role in the war and what she can do.

"Whatever it takes," Weiss placed a hand on Yang's arm in comfort, knowing full well that there was a chance that Ruby would be considered too big of a risk for Atlas. Weiss hoped she would never lose any more friends because of this war, but she knew, deep down, that there was a chance for one more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look another update! Hurrah!
> 
> Beta-read by StreetAngelJ
> 
> If you enjoyed it, leave a Kudo! If you already have, leave a comment! I love reading them and I love replying to them. This story is also posted on FF.net under the same name. So if you read there as well, come show your support! I'm also on Tumblr at AngryFaceWritings. Come say hi!
> 
> And as always, thank you for taking time out of your busy days to read my slice of madness!


	11. Once A Shadow Without Light Pt III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive!

_**Once a Shadow Without Light** _  
_Pt. III_

* * *

Mornings are a strange time for Blake, ever since the agreement between Neo, Yang and herself had been settled. The fact of the matter was that there was only one bed in the room that Ozpin had given them. While Blake would have been more than happy with finding somewhere else to sleep, Yang insisted on keeping the three of them together.

Their first night was filled with awkward shifting and changing positions until everyone was comfortable. Then it was filled with awkward silence where everyone just tried to get as much sleep as they could before whatever the next day would throw at them. By the third night, they had fallen into a decent pattern.

First, Yang would get into bed, then Neo would get on top of her and rest her head on Yang's chest. Then, Blake would come to her side and cling to Yang. Their fingers entwining and their legs brushing together. Blake's head sitting comfortably on Yang's shoulder. Once, Blake had woken up with Neo sliding off of Yang and settling between them. For a little while, things were going quite smoothly.

Until Ruby woke up from her coma yesterday.

Blake stood next to Yang and watched as Ruby struggled against her bed for a few minutes before Yang opened the door to approach, only for the young woman to scream more, shouting about betrayal and death. Blake had to pull Yang from the room and hold her close as the tears began. Throughout the day, Yang was barely managing anything. Completely quiet and withdrawn, but Blake did not know what she could do to help her.

When night came around, the three were all laying together, but no one could sleep. Yang had broken down during the night, and not even being held by both Blake and Neo could calm her down. When she finally fell asleep, the two other women gave each other a look, trying to silently figure something out.

When the morning eventually came, Yang was first out of bed and into the shower silently. Blake and Neo sat there, just staring at the door to the tiny bathroom attached to their room. "What are we going to do?" Blake finally asked, running her hands over her face, trying to gather the energy to face the day ahead of them. From the corner of her eye, she saw Neo shrug before pushing herself off the bed and get dressed for the day.

Of course, getting dressed for Neo was as simple as snapping her fingers, a little light show, and she was good to go. Blake did not have that semblance, so she started the task of pulling her pants on and getting her clothes together. "I know we talked about it. Well, _I_ talked about it, but you really should talk to Yang about you," Neo just glared at her before typing out on her scroll.

 ** _"No, Before you, only one other person knew what I looked like; I made sure of that."_** Blake did not like the implications of that statement but continued to read Neo's message to her. **_"The only reason I don't correct that is that Yang would be devastated if anything happened to you. Who you saw doesn't exist anymore. She was weak, scared and broken. I am not."_** Blake could see the resolve in her mismatched eyes and took a breath.

"Completely cutting off a part of you doesn't just erase the pain you've felt. It's what makes us whole. Being stronger than you were is important, but completely throwing it away isn't healthy." Neo shook her head and folded her arms. Apparently, the conversation was over for now. Blake just sighed as she pulled her hair out of her jacket and picked up her specialist chest plate. Normally, she would like to leave it on the floor, but it does make things easier when she's actually doing her job.

That was when Yang stepped out of the bathroom with a towel around her neck. Blake could see the bags under her eyes from what little sleep she did get. Walking up to her, Blake was quick to wrap her arms around her and held her close. Yang was quick to squeeze Blake before they separated for a small kiss. "How you feeling?" She asked, gently pushing some of Yang's damp golden mane out of her face.

Yang was silent for a moment before shrugging. "I'll be okay. Just trying to think of something to get through to Ruby,"

"I'm sure we'll think of something, but for now, I've got duties in the hanger bay today. Hopefully, I can smooth over some Faunus-Human relations," Blake said as she reluctantly pulled away from Yang and clipped her chest plate into place. "I'll meet you guys for lunch, okay?" Yang only nodded before shuffling to Neo and wrapped her arms around her. With Yang's back turned to Blake, she and Neo locked eyes again, and Blake mouthing the words _"stay with her."_ Neo nodded, and Blake took her leave.

No matter how many times she walked down the cramped hallways of the Mantle of Responsibility, she is reminded how much she hated ships in general. A passing chill went down her spine at the memory of her time fleeing Atlas with Yang's arm on a ship smuggling Dust out of the kingdom. Something that felt like a lifetime ago.

The hanger bay was still filled with people, but at least some have been sent off via Bullheads since she had last looked. People were still self separating into their factions, including the Faunus, in two distinct camps; The White Fang and the Black Fang. Both groups were giving each other the cold shoulder, but Blake could see that the White Fang had diminished greatly in size, nearly half the size of the other one. Either defection or arrests were the probable cause. But the fact that Atlas was willing to substantially reduce any and all jail time for information on the organization or turning in more high profile and dangerous agents was still a little surprising.

Blake made sure to make herself as seen by as many people as possible. Faunus, a little combative, became a little more agreeable to the questions while she managed to talk down Atleisans, who seemed a little too _'up their own ass with authority'_ as Yang would put it. But she heard a few of the interrogators mention that things tend to go a lot smoother when a Faunus helped them out.

Walking up to a table with a Faunus wearing a bloody White Fang uniform, Blake saw how he fidgeted with his fingers as the interrogator asked their questions. "What was your role during the Battle in Mistral?" The woman asked as she wrote down his statement.

"Uh, I was just, uh, a grunt. They, um, they handed me a gun and told me to go…" Blake saw how his tale on his back kept swaying back and forth nervously. Standing next to the woman asking the questions, Blake saw the man's eyes widen, flick to the ears at the top of her head and seemed to relax just a little bit.

"What did you do before the White Fang?"

"I was, uh, a-uh, a farmer." The wringing of his hands intensified as he took a quick glance behind himself and quickly turned back to the table. Looking past the man, she saw a group of White Fang people waiting in line to talk to interrogators, and each of them was staring intently at the man in front of her. Looking a little more closely at the person being questioned, Blake noticed a few cuts that did not seem like he got from any battle. Most notably, there was a rather deep discolouration around his neck, and he seemed very thin for a soldier of the White Fang.

"Where were you recruited?" Blake interrupted the interrogator as she began to look through the statements he had already said.

"Uh, near the coast of Mistral about, three years ago?" He stammered out. "I needed to keep my family safe, so I joined to protect them from the Humans in the area." Blake took a more careful look at him. Her eyes staring him down as he began to look everywhere but at her. His breathing was coming in quickly now, and he was beginning to sway.

"Sir?" Blake called out and quickly rushed to him as his knees buckled and stopped him from hitting the floor. "You're okay, I got you; let's get you to the infirmary," Blake said as she slung his arm around her shoulders and began to help him walk down the halls. This close to him, she could feel how thin he really was under his clothing. Something was very wrong with him.

A medic standing by helped Blake by taking some of his weight, and the two of them brought him to the infirmary, where they sat him down in a chair and began to get to work. Giving the man a glass of water, he sucked it down almost instantly, causing a coughing fit. "I need to get back," He said as he began to try and force himself from the chair, only for the medic to push him back down with ease.

"No, you're not, you nearly fainted, and we're here to he-oly shit…" The medic's train of thought quickly changed when he lifted his sleeve to inspect something and saw that his limb was nearly skin and bone. Blake watched his horror as the Faunus looked away while the medic ran his hand up his arm and pulled his collar away from his neck, revealing even more sickly thin skin. "What the hell happened to you?" The medic asked as he quickly got up and pulled the curtain around the three of them, cutting them off from the rest of the patients in the room.

The Faunus remained silent as he looked at the ground. Blake crouched down and placed a hand on his knee; she could feel how baggy the clothing was under his thin legs. "You can talk to us; you're safe here," Blake told him.

"But my sister isn't," He said, tears forming in his eyes.

"Where is she?" Blake asked.

The man was silent for a stretch before his lips trembled and the tears slipped from his eyes. "Kuo Kuana. There's a camp there the White Fang keep us in, the ones that wanted nothing to do with the war or fights. We're given almost no food, little water and beaten to an inch of our lives if we speak out. A lot of us were taken from the camp a while ago to be used as workers or meatshields in Mistral. I was taken, but my sister remained."

Blake could feel her heart drop into her stomach from his story. The medic listened as well as he began to prepare for his treatment. "Why would they do that to you? You're all Faunus; why would they _enslave_ their own kind?" He asked.

"They're extremists," Blake replied. "They don't care who gets hurt on their crusade. Equality isn't what they want anymore…" Blake stood and checked to make sure her weapon was in place before asking one last question to the Faunus. "Those guys who kept staring at you, were they the ones who kept you in line?" The Faunus nodded, and Blake started to walk off back to the hanger.

"Weiss, I need your help,"

"What's wrong?" Weiss's voice came directly into her ear through the coms system they were using.

"I don't exactly know how much authority I have as a Specialist, but I need to arrest some assholes before they get into the system." Blake turned the corner and walked back into the hanger bay to look for her targets.

"I'm on my way," Weiss quickly closed the channel, and Blake stood nearby and waited for her to arrive. The people in question were still in the lineup but began to whisper after seeing Blake come back without their guy. Blake did not have to wait long for Weiss to approach her with three soldiers in tow; each had black stripes on their armour, marking them military police members onboard the dreadnaught.

"What's going on?" Weiss asked her quietly.

"White Fang have been putting any Faunus that don't agree with their ideals into camps, starved, beaten and conscripted them to fight for them. There's a guy in the infirmary that looks like a walking skeleton because of them. He's pointed out a few that were here, and I think I've located them," Blake kept her gaze on the three White Fang members that were beginning to act more nervous after seeing Weiss and more soldiers stroll up.

"Monsters," Weiss said as she saw the woman's hand shake from the side. "Are there any boundaries they don't dare to cross?"

"Come on, let's get them," Before Blake could take two steps, Weiss had grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Slow down for a second; they're just going to deny any allegation. We need to get more evidence and check on the other White Fang we've cleared already. They could have more camps, hostages; there's simply too much we don't know yet." Blake sighed angrily as she stepped back and scratched her head. Weiss was right, and picking a fight here was a sure-fire way of jumpy soldiers with guns overreacting to anything. It was a miracle there have not been any shootings yet.

"Damn it all," Blake kept looking over at the Faunus, all waiting for their turn; now that Weiss had shown up, many more had taken an interest in them. Beside her, Weiss pulled out a tablet and began to go through some records, but Blake noticed that her hands were shaking slightly, and Weiss did not seem to notice. Taking a closer look, Blake could see deep bags under Weiss's eyes, something that stood out against her normally pale skin.

"You okay, Weiss?" Blake asked gently, placing a hand on the other woman's shoulder.

"Fine, why?"

"Because your hands are shaking,"

Weiss paused her reading and looked at her hand, sighed before resuming. "That happens from time to time, among other things," Blake heard Weiss whisper under her breath, but before she could say anything about it, there were several shouts, and her attention was pulled to a White Fang rushing towards them with a knife in his hand. He had shoved his way past the one soldier stationed at the table and drove the knife towards Weiss, yelling about the Schnees.

Blake quickly reached for Gambol Shroud over her shoulder to defend her friend when a White Beowolf appeared and tackled him to the ground. Everyone began to scream and start running away from the scene as the Faunus pinned under Weiss's summon began to scream for his life. Atleaisn soldiers began to spread out, weapons at the ready, barking orders for everyone to drop to the ground. Their words being drowned out by the screams from everyone.

Things were about to kick-off, and Blake needed to act quickly. Pulling her weapon free, she threw it and wrapped it around a soldier's rifle before he could use it and dragged it free of their grasp. Fearing the worst, Blake watched as an order was shouted to fire, and she screamed for them to stop.

The air was filled with the clatter of weapons fire and the deafening silence that followed. From it, Blake was expecting the screams of the dying and injured. Instead, the sounds of cracking ice from a huge wall separated the Faunus from the soldiers that opened fire on them. Everyone looked over at Weiss, who stood still, her weapon in her hand and a spinning glyph surrounding her. When it dissipated, Weiss quickly walked across the ranks to the soldier that gave the order and drove a fist into his face.

Blake quickly sprinted towards Weiss as she continued her barehanded assault against the soldier, easily disarming him and throwing him to the ground, his face grating against the steel floor and his arm bent backwards in Weiss's grasp. "ARE YOU INSANE?! THESE ARE UNARMED CIVILIANS!" Weiss shouted down at him.

"He had a knife!" the man cried out.

"ONE! ONE OF THEM HAD A KNIFE! AND I HAD HIM SECURED! ALL OF YOU, STAND DOWN!" All the other soldiers had no idea what to do; they all looked at each other before stepping away and lowered their weapons. Blake released the breath she was holding and hoped her heart could hold on for a little longer with everyone settling down. Picking her weapon up, she walked over to the White Fang who started this whole fiasco, who was still pinned under Weiss's white Beowolf.

He was whimpering as the summon leaned in and growled into his ear. Crouching down, Blake picked up the knife he had tried to use and saw that it was just a piece of bent and sharpened metal wrapped in some cloth. "Why would you do something so stupid?" Blake asked finally. "You could have gotten everyone here killed!"

"I would rather die than live in chains, like a Schnee pet. Traitor!" The man growled out as their eyes connected.

"I'm trying to help the Faunus survive being wiped out from the face of Remnant while you're selfish actions nearly killed all the Faunus here. Who's betraying who?" Blake stood up and walked back to Weiss, who was now putting handcuffs on the soldier she was previously standing on top of while more reinforcements showed up. Several of the soldiers that were there before had their weapons taken from them and were lead out of the hanger.

The ice wall disappeared with a wave of Weiss's hand, and all the Faunus on the other side flinched. Blake knew that relations between Humans and Faunus were not going to get better overnight, but she hoped it would be smoother than this. Catching up to Weiss, she saw someone in an officer uniform nod to whatever Weiss was talking about.

"I'll have my report to you within the hour," Weiss snapped off a salute as the officer replied in kind.

"Thank you," Blake said as she stood next to her friend. Weiss waved her hand, dismissing it instantly.

"Blake, you should know by now that I don't judge the whole group for the actions of a single individual and haven't for a long time," Weiss cut herself off with a sudden yawn and a sigh. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to take my new prisoner to an isolation cell, write a report, and maybe take a nap…" Weiss placed her hand on Blake's shoulder and gave her a tired smile before walking away to take her prisoner away. Blake just watched her go in a worrying shock.

Blake's heart was still beating in her chest, her limbs felt like limp noodles, and her mind was racing from what was about to happen, but Weiss wanted to take a nap! Granted, she looked like she would pass out where she stood, but she did not feel the tremor she saw earlier with the woman when she had touched Blake's shoulder. It felt like she was in the middle of a forest fire with everything that was happening to her friends and only had a cup of water to fight it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Hello! 
> 
> I'm sure you're used to it by now but, I'm sorry for taking so long between updates for this story, (as well as my other ones) but, like everyone else on the planet, I've been having a rough time... as always, I'm trying to be better but sometimes the creative lake is all dry...
> 
> If you enjoyed, leave a Kudo! If you already have, leave a comment! I love reading them and I love replying to them. This story is also posted on FF.net under the same name. So if you read there as well, come show your support! I also have a tumblr: AngryFaceWritings come say hi!
> 
> And as always, thank you for taking time out of your busy days to read my slice of madness!


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